“Hello, my name is Marta and I’m from Ukraine. On Feb 24, 2022 I woke up at 4.30 in the morning to hear my city being bombed. Russia invaded Ukraine. A fight for life, humanity and democratic values begun.

Please help me help – buy a R 500 t-shirt with a Ukrainian print. I will transfer all the funds to local Ukrainian charity organizations. I am now in South Africa and I am trying to help Ukraine, my home. Ukraine is 10 000 away from SA, but distance is nothing to human values and love.”

To make your order, please contact Marta on Instagram or simply email her : marta@pygio.com – thank you for supporting peace!

It was three months ago today that we left Kyiv, shocked and scared. We are now in a holiday resort in South Africa, but we are not on holiday. We are still in a state of shock but we are not scared any more. We are unsure though about the future and for now it feels like we are treading water. And that can be exhausting.

I was born in South Africa and I love it here. But my soul was restless and in Kyiv I had found a magical world that was my happy place. I am very grateful that as I write this we are comfortable and safe. Everyday I count my blessings. But all we want is to return to Kyiv.

Most people I know had very little knowledge of Kyiv, if anything at all, until I told them about it. And those who came with me there, who walked the streets and took in the vibe, always wanted to return. Kyiv is a creative center, a place full of energy and spirit, with a booming IT industry, and incredible eating, culture, beauty, adventure … I could go on and on. And just a short time ago I had never heard of a mugging or anything related to crime in Kyiv, and then, just like that, life changed. War came to town.

Magical Kyiv are two words you often hear when people talk about this ancient city. A place where life is embraced to the fullest and where people laugh with their souls. The sense of humour one experiences in Ukraine is so opposite to the stupid stereotype, which will soon change. Ukraine is finally on the map, and it will stay on the map. Putin will not change the face of Europe. If that were to happen it means that evil has won, and I just cannot believe that is possible.

An interesting thing to observe is the currency in Ukraine which has hardly dropped in value since the start of the war. Ukrainians are not panicking and their confidence is reflected in the value of their currency. Also, cinemas opened again in Ukraine the weekend before last. Some rays of light.

Please God this insane war ends soon.

Marta and I were standing on the patio admiring the magnificent view on Sunday morning. And the weather was so lovely and you could just stand there and stare. But neither of us looked happy. Yes, we are very grateful to be staying in this peaceful and beautiful place, but we long to get back to Kyiv and the news from this week gone by continues to be very upsetting.

The thing about being on holiday is that you plan a holiday. You pack to go on holiday. The idea is to switch off and relax. But we are the opposite of switched off. This is no holiday. There is constant news from Ukraine and a lot of chats/text with friends and family back in Kyiv, and outside of the country. The ones in Ukraine tell us about the air raid sirens and the military presence in every direction, but they also tell us about the beauty and the vibe. People in Kyiv love their city and you can hear it in their voices every time they speak. Magical Kyiv. These are two words I hear often. And the folk on the outside all have the same question: when are we going back? A question we keep asking just about every day since we left.

The Bunster looks very happy down here in Fancourt. He runs around all the time without a worry in the world, and the other day he made friends with a cat. It was love at first site, for both the Bun and the cat. If it wasn’t for the Bunster we would head back to Kyiv this week.

This news headline from about a week ago really stumped me. After reading and staring at it, for quite some time, I just scratched my head and wondered. Does anyone reading this blog understand one word of this Bloomberg headline? My interpretation: this is all just sophisticated gambling and game playing. If anyone tells you they are working hard in crypto, whatever that even means, then they are lying to you and to themself.

My old pal Andrew explained to me, “… these were supposed to be the crypto equivalent of US Treasury bonds, a safe store of value pegged to the US$. Except when $1 becomes worth $0.99, people lose trust in the system and panic, and it may as well be worth zero. Which is what happened.” I kinda understand this, but I still don’t get it.

I believe that crypto currency is here to stay and I also believe it is going to be in all our futures. It should be a good thing. But what is not inspiring is the youth that all too often go on about this stuff like it is the meaning of life. The secret to success is to be keep your promises and to work hard. Trust underpins everything. And this crypto world is currently sounding pretty dodgy.

“The crypto world appears to have become the domain of constant speculation and presents no underlying value. We need engineers to go back to building useful things that actually help the world.”