M.L. Heslin writes from Lviv, Ukraine, “From 2017 until the full-scale invasion, seconded by the U.S. State Department to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, I covered gender and human rights issues in the East along the front, the contact line. Russians bombed my house and office in Severodonetsk; neighbors were killed. I was pissed, so I moved to Lviv and now volunteer with a North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO—not NATO) funded organization that since 2022 produces drones and supplies for front line units and has delivered more than a million dollars of products to Ukrainian troops. NAFO is a massive grassroots group of members worldwide supporting Ukraine through donations and volunteerism while also fighting Russian propaganda online. Our operation in Lviv is staffed by Ukrainian and foreign volunteers working ridiculous hours for the reward of first-person videos showing our high-quality drones blowing up expensive Russian equipment and killing Russian troops. (See www.volunteeringukraine.com.)

“When in Russian-controlled Luhansk I mostly spoke Russian; in Lviv I speak Ukrainian almost exclusively. I believe I’m one of the few Russian majors in our class who has used Russian throughout their career, including living and working in Russia for 10 years.

“My first job after Dartmouth was receptionist at the U.S. embassy in Moscow—I basically walked in and asked if they had any jobs. Subsequently, I worked on a joint U.S.-Soviet fishing venture in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (see Barbara Oakley’s Hair of the Dog). This funded my Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies master’s, studying in Italy and D.C.

Prior to Ukraine I managed major grant programs for organizations funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Afghanistan; worked for USAID and European donor programs in Russia, Ukraine, and Egypt; and directed the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire.

“My home, the ‘Swamp Hut’ (truth in advertising), is in Concord, New Hampshire. I still have family in the state. My only child, Patrick, tragically died 15 years ago at 20 years old. I was on the way to dying of alcohol abuse in 2016 when a friend referred me to the Sinclair Method using the FDA-approved drug Naltrexone. After a few tries, I am happily no longer addicted. The addiction now seems like a bad dream. I am happy to discuss my experience with interested classmates.

“The spare bedroom in my apartment in an historic Austrian building (with a great air-raid basement) near lovely central historic Lviv is always open to visitors! It isn’t as dangerous as you think—life in wonderful Lviv goes on despite war. I know from experience what Russia’s Shahed attack drones and missiles sound like, but I don’t feel any less safe than in a U.S. shopping mall.

“Anne Haag and I attended ‘50 Years of Women at Dartmouth,’ catching up with classmates. I look forward to seeing more classmates June 2025 at our 45th reunion.”

Email jshandkids@aol.com and share your reasons for attending reunion June 2025.

—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com