Day 4...the day of gifts for the orphanage

Today, we were allowed to sleep in a little longer. Vlad had to run to Sumy and Natasha had let us sleep until 11:00. My eyes popped open at 6:00AM and refused to close. With the time changes (jet lag) and the continuous running around we've been doing, Carrie and I are always so tired by about 5 or 6 PM. In the mornings, my body still thinks it is the middle of the day. It's frustrating to know that your are going to be exhausted by the end of the day, but your body won't sleep!

At 11:00, Vladimir came by and told us that we needed to bring all of the gifts for the orphanage and we would give them to the director. Carrie and I were disappointed, to say the least. Our plan was to go to the orphanage, meet with all of the kids, hand out our gifts, take lots of pictures, and enjoy the moment. Vlad explained that the director was a very proud man. Although the orphanage is very old, run down and would probably fail every safety code by American standards, it is the cleanest building Carrie and I have ever seen. There is not a speck of dust anywhere, the floors are shiny clean, no cob webs in corners, etc. Regardless, the director does not allow foreigners taking pictures, in fear that the pictures might be spread across the internet in a negative way. We were lucky to get the few pictures inside of the orphanage that we did. From the directors viewpoint, we understood where he is coming from. If it was in his power, things would be different, but he is at the mercy of the government. So, off we went to the orphanage, with all of the gift. We went into his office and started with the gifts for the individual kids. Lee-Ann and Ellen: Here are your beautiful girls. They LOVED the gifts...


To our friends at Pheasant Point Second Ward and Wal-Mart: When we entered the orphanage, it was very cold inside. The building is all brick, stone and mortar and it holds the cool air in its walls, even though it was 65 degrees outside...we cringed to think what it is like in the middle of winter! When we gave the director those blankets, he said that the kids in Yuliya's class would certainly use them. After being in that building for an hour, we have no question about that. He was also very thankful for all of the socks and underwear. (When Yuliya came to our apartment and took a shower, Carrie washed up her clothes, and noticed how old and thin her socks and underwear are. It is no wonder why the director was so thankful for the new socks and underwear for these kids. They really need them.) Yuliya told us that they are given 2 pairs of socks and underwear, and are required to wash the pair they are wearing in the sink every evening and put on the clean pair they washed the previous night. This cycle repeats every day. Once they out-grow their underwear, if there is any life left in them, they are passed on to another child. We went to the store to see what the prices were for socks and underwear, and clothes here are more expensive here than in the USA. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Lastly, our friends at SNUGGLE LUV in the University Mall, thank you so much for the hair flowers you made for each girl. We asked again if we could hand them out to all of the kids ourselves, and he assured us that each girl in the orphanage would get one. Clearly he did not want us taking pictures of the kids. However, when he opened the box of hair flowers, and we explained that each one was hand made, he picked a few of them up and said 'these were hand-made by people in America?' When we said yes, he paused for a few thoughful moments, looked at the flowers, and said something to the Ukrainian equivalent of 'wow'! He could see that a lot of time and effort went into those. He told us that rather than handing them all out, he is going to make sure that each teacher brings enough for the girls in the class, and hand them out one by one. He totally surprised us when he held up the box and asked us to take a picture with them and asked us to send it to Lindy and Sarah, with his personal thanks for the hard work. (sorry about the closed eyes). He also asked to keep the beautiful box they came in.




(The director (in black) and our Ukrainian facilitators)

There's one thing Carrie and I have learned while here -- don't ask questions about the processes. It's not that we would not understand, it's that things are often done in a Ukrainian style. And honestly, when I look at the living conditions here in Romny, I don't mind. There is a lady at the orphanage who appears to be in her mid-30's. Everytime we visit the orphanage, she is mopping the floor. Her mop consists of an old sweater wrapped around an old squeegee. After a few strokes, she would rinse the sweater out in and old tin bucket. The cleaner in the water smells little like diesel fuel, so the entire orphanage smells like this. After she gets done, she starts over where she started. The floors were mopped at least 3 times a day. There is another lady who in charge of the stairs. Up and down she would go, on her hands and knees, with her old sweater and bucket of water. I took a few pictures of a couple of the hallways. You can see that as detioriated as the building is, it is clean. Or, as my mom used to say, the floors are 'spic and span'!

(Can you find the orphanage dog in the picture above?)

After the orphanage, we were allowed to take Yuliya out for a while. We came back to our hotel where Carrie got her cleaned up and into some new clothes. Every day we spend time with Yuliya, she opens up a little more and her affectionate side shows through more and more. She's such a sweet girl, with so much love in her heart. As her trust grows and her english improves, we're going to see such an amazing girl emerge from her painful past.

One last story that touched our hearts -- the Reynolds sent a package for Pasha's class (Pasha was adopted last fall by the Reynolds). Inside were some small party-favor sized soccer balls, hand-made rings for all of the girls, and lollipops for everyone. We left the package in the office and thought we would not see the results. As we were leaving, the director saw one of the kids from that class, and in his stern Ukrainian voice said 'There is a gift from Pasha for your class. Go tell your teacher'. The boy took off running towards his class like his pants were on fire. After a few minutes, a group of kids and the teacher came to the office and received that package. The kids emerged with the biggest grins you have ever seen. I snapped a quick picture. As they walked away, they studied the package, chatting away, just like it was Christmas morning. Every other step, they would turn around, wave, and tell us in English 'thank you, thank you, thank you', walk some more, and turn around, and do the same. These kids were SO thankful for something as simple as a toy that most of our kids gets in a happy meal. Their gratitude brought tears to our eyes. These kids literally have nothing. And they are the cutest, sweetest kids.
We wondered how the girls would like their rings, since it looked like someone had put a lot of handwork into them. After a few minutes, we saw Inna walking outside with a lollipop in her mouth and a pink ring on her finger (click on the picture to enlarge it to see the ring). Guess that answers that question! As we left, we saw a few more kids with lollipops in their mouths - all content with the treats sent from Pasha. To Pasha and the Reynolds - you brought a lot of smiles today. Thank you from your former, but very happy, classmates.