10/2/23 – Zaporizhzhya Protection Project

After some struggle, primarily due to tiredness, I found the hostel I booked near the Hryshko National Botanical Garden dedicated to peace and filled with exciting installations and specimens even this late in the season. I wandered around for a few hours and, in the late afternoon, managed to meet two human rights activists that our previous travel team also met. I found our conversation comparing our democracies profoundly important. They wanted me to share that everyday people, many of whom are also conscientious objectors, are currently living in fear of the war, hiding from thugs and police, and even feeling suicidal while serving(a topic that the New York Times attempted to cover early on). We wondered how the movement might proceed in such an atmosphere, and I gave them the Beautiful Trouble cards I brought for our team.