A hug for the future

36° 49′ 18.1992” N 28° 33′ 53.0964” E

May 11th, 2022
Ekincik Limani

Last night I (Kirsten) met a young girl who made an impression on me.

We had moored Ronja at a very small jetty in a Turkish bay far away from everything. Only four other boats at the jetty. A flock of guinea fowls strutted around, looking for food. I gave them some crumbs, which they greedily carved into themselves. A little girl and her young mother were very interested in the guinea fowls, so we fell into conversation.

The girl was from Ukraine, just 17 years old and her daughter two years old. I asked her if she had fled the war. The answer was no, she sailed around in a boat with her father and her boyfriend, also 17 years old. But, she continued quickly, she would rather be at home in Kyiv.

She was sure that the war would soon be over and that Ukraine would be the victor.
Once she got home, she would start university and study political science. She wanted to do so, because she wanted to make a difference in the development of the Ukraine of the future.

We talked at length about the future, about solidarity, about democracy, and after some time the girl asked if we should give each other a hug.

The next morning she had sailed on.