We are busy shooting material in Kyiv for our Ukraine film project which we started in 2018 and will complete by December. Two from our small team are here from South Africa and another team member is joining us next week. We are on our feet 7 to 8 hours a day, in and around the city, capturing all kinds of moods, textures, emotions. And of course, sometimes air raid sirens go off, and there is an edge to everything. While we are all together filming things, we are also walking and talking, and this week we have been discussing the parallels between South Africa and Ukraine. Both places are not living normally. People are stressed and the future is uncertain.

The reasons for the uncertainty are very different of course, but the end result is the same. Anxiety, stress, fear. These are not good for the soul. Not at all. And this is not a way to raise a family. Many people are leaving SA, for years and years now, and it is not stopping. And in Ukraine many people have lost their homes, and millions have left the country since the start of the war. In Ukraine’s case, most want to come back. That is my understanding.

We were walking in the beautiful Mariinsky Park here in the center of Kyiv one evening earlier this week. It was after 9 pm and it was getting dark. We all commented how we would never do this back in SA. And here, in Kyiv, we have no fear of being mugged.

There are over 10 people in my circle of friends/colleagues that have been killed in SA over the past 20 years because of the violent crime crises. When people in Kyiv ask me about life in SA and the subject of violent crime comes up, they are always shocked. I thank God that I have never had a violent incident happen to me, but my mother, brother, so many friends, co-workers, etc. have all had bad experiences. When people here hear this they say to me things like, “Do you watch too many Hollywood movies or maybe you do drugs ???” They simply can’t believe that this is reality. “How do people live this ?!” I would get asked. That is a very good question.

Here in Kyiv nothing is normal, and yet, like in SA, life goes in. People go to work, go out to eat, go shopping. People are getting married, having babies, and doing what normal people do. But everyone by now has a war story in Ukraine. Like in SA, everyone has a crime story. Sadly, most have more than one story of violence. And in Kyiv, everyone you talk to knows someone who has been injured or killed in this evil war.

The two film editors from the team were at my apartment earlier this week and we met my one neighbour as we all got into the elevator together. I have met this neighbour a few times. She is warm and friendly. A mom of 3, and they have a small, cute dog. We ask her if she knows anyone who has been injured in the war. And she says her best friend just lost her husband who was killed in the army. Anyone you speak to has first hand experience of the pain of this evil war. And everyone in SA has suffered because of the violent crime nightmare. And it is a nightmare. SA has statistics for a country at war.

The most important question we are asking our closing part of the film, “How does one plan for the future with so much uncertainty?” Not an easy situation for anyone to be in. People here are tired and anxious. The same in SA. Again, this is not how life is meant to be. And having said that, you hear more laughter than ever here in Kyiv. People make jokes all the time. The sense of humour here has always been brilliant, and the laughter has not stopped. But there is a nervousness to the laughter, and everyone prays this nightmare war will end soon. Same in SA. Please God all this killing and violence comes to an end. It is not the way to live. As my one friend summed it up, “There is too much fear in the world. How did we get here? This isn’t the way it’s meant to be. I just pray that we find a better way.”