It's been a week: still no news.

Mama has been to the dining place for the homeless at Lavra, then down by the river, and then across the river, at Trukhaniv Island.

At Lavra, it costs 10 cents to order a single prayer, and $2 (10 hryvnias) to order one daily prayer to be read for 40 days in a row.

I've been to Kontraktova, then went to Pushcha Vodytsya - and that was more or less it for today.

Whenever I go now, it seems too random to make any sense. Too hopeless.

We've printed out papa's picture and description, and I pasted a few sheets at Kontraktova, and a few in Pushcha. I could've been pasting them everywhere, but today I just didn't see how it would help: there are too many people around and most of them are too preoccupied with their own problems.

Being in Pushcha was incredibly depressing: nothing's changed there, it's as peaceful and beautiful as last year, and as dilapidated, and I've seen a few of our neighbors, and even though it's been a year, it all felt like I had just returned after spending a few hours away, downtown...

We called 272-0672 in the morning, and they said two drowned men my papa's age had been found. They had more info in the evening - no, thank God, it wasn't him.

Mishah took papa's photo to them, because it was getting really tiresome to describe papa over and over again on the phone, as they compared him to those in their database. The young woman working there showed Mishah some terrible photos, to make sure it wasn't papa. She was very sweet and it was after 8 pm when she met with Mishah - what a job...

Those phone calls to the police from up high last week proved to be inefficient - I'm not even sure there were any phone calls at all. But today we've managed to get someone truly "important" involved, and right away the head of a district police department called my mama twice and reported on the work they were beginning to do. Who knows, maybe this will indeed change the situation for the better.

Thank you all again for your comments and support.

To Arboretum: thanks for your suggestions, but - as far as we know, homes for the elderly do not take in people from the street; we've called a few mental hospitals, and in any case, they are, most likely, sending their data to the central database; and, normally, the police don't place the elderly in obezyanniki ("monkey cages" - police station detention cells), fearing they would be held responsible in case a person dies there.

Megan: thank you, I've just posted our Help Find a Missing Person ad in Russian - here.

Every night I go to bed sort of hopeful: writing here helps - and I also believe that it has to start getting better sometime, maybe even tomorrow.