Monday, April 8, 2013
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Many Thanks to all of you!
8/31/09
Today was my last day at the internat so I just want to thank everyone who has been so supportive and so instrumental during my Ukraine trip. I know this is going to sound like I think I just won an Oscar or released a musical album, hahaha, but oh well... Thanks ARE in order...
First of all, I want to thank Dr. Joanne Benham-Rennick. Thank you for having thought of me when this grant became available, and for offering it to me despite the fact that you knew that I had my summer already packed with plans. You really changed my life by offering me this incredible opportunity. I will never be able to thank you enough.
Secondly, I would like to thank my mom and dad for all your support. Without your love, support and encouragement, I would not have had the courage to go ahead with this incredible challenge. I love you both so very much!
Mamaita, gracias por todo tu apoyo, especialmente atraves de tus oraciones y de nuestras conversaciones en el telefono que me ayudaron a no sentime sola y a agarrar fuerzas cuando me sentia completamente agobiada. Tu amistad y tu carino han sido mi apoyo, y con tu ayuda, he podido crecer mas de lo que esperaba. Te quiero mucho, Mama.
(Mommy, thank you for all your support, especially through your prayers and through our phone conversations that helped me not to feel alone and to regain my strength when I felt so completely overwhelmed. Your friendship and love have been my support, and with your help, I have been able to grow more than what I expected. I love you, Mom.)
Papaito, quiero agradecerte por todo tu apoyo, especialmente sabiendo que mi viaje te preocupaba por razones de seguridad y porque te preocuaba cual seria el impacto emocional de esta experiencia. Quiero que sepas que tu apoyo significa todo para mi, y tus oraciones me han fortaliecido de una manera impresionante. Espero que estes orgulloso de mi. Te quiero mucho, Papa.
(Dad, I want to thank you for all of your support, especially knowing that my trip worried you because of safety issues and because you worried about the emotional impact that this experience would have on me. I want you to know that your support means everything to me, and your prayers have strengthened me incredibly. I hope you are proud of me. I love you, Dad.)
I would also like to thank Elyse Redden, Academic Support Officer at SJU. Thank you for all your help with getting all the documents and paperwork ready for my move. You were incredibly efficient and helpful, and without you I would not have been able to fulfill all the requirements on time. You are the best!
Next, I would like to thank Dr. Myrowslaw Tataryn, the dean of St. Jerome's University. Thank you for setting up the connections with the university and the internat here in Ukraine, as well as for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to give me the necessary orientation about my placement. I really appreciate your help!
Of course, I would like to thank Students for Development, the organization which allowed me to embark on this wonderful experience thanks to their generous grant, which I hope I have been able to put to good use in helping these girls find their self-worth and increasing their quality of life.
Likewise, I would like to thank Sarah Noonan, who had been to the internat inprevious years. Thanks for the very helpful orientation you gave me. It really made my adjustment here a lot easier :)
Next, I want to thank my boss at the SJU Library, Lorna Rourke. Thank you so much for helping me out with the issue about my book for my course! I was so stressed out about it and you were so kind to have helped me out like that! I look forward to coming back for one more term at the library! :)
I also want to thank Jennifer Deweerd and Jessica Vorsteveld, the two other musketeers, my two wonderful orphanage co-volunteers. Girls, I am so glad to have been able to experience this with you two! I really missed you the last few weeks! I will always treasure your friendship!
Jessica, thank you for always having a smile on your face, for always making me laugh, and for working so hard to reach even those girls who would flat out reject you. I learned a lot from your perseverance and self-giving :)
And Jen, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, from the very first day you heard I was joining the project. Your devotion and self-giving to these girls, especially the little ones, is a true inspiration.
Next, I would like to thank a very special friend of mine. His name is Andrew Purcell :) Andy, you have been a great friend throughout this trip. Thank you so much for helping me keep my sanity when I first found out about this trip and was running like a chicken with my head cut off trying to prepare for it. Also thank you so much for your friendship, online-companionship and encouragement during my actual trip. You always brought a smile on my face during out msn conversations :) You are the best, Timone! :P Thanks for the Hakuna Matata moments!
In a very special way, I would like to thank my best friend, Ania Piechota. Girlie, thank you so much for all your prayers, your encouragement, and especially, your devoted friendship. I have never had a girl friend like you! Also, thank you so much for helping me find house rental adds after you found out about the fraud of which I was a victim. You're the best! I miss you so much!! I can't wait to go back to school and giggle in class with you like we used to during our Psych of Death and Dying class, hehehe.
I would also like to thank Dr. Frick, my professor for my RS 398 Systematic Theology directed readings course. You have been infinitely patient and merciful with me and my late assignments. I cannot be more grateful to you! I will hand in good work soon. I promise! I am really looking forward to having that discussion about the course when I come back!
In a very special way, I also want to thank Curtis Miller, my ex-boyfriend, now seminarian, and a dear, dear friend of mine. Curt, I just want to thank you for all your prayers during your pilgrimage and for all your support and care. I will miss you very much now that you are leaving for seminary. I am sorry I will not be back to Canada before you leave. I hope that God fills your heart with joy in this new path he has put before you. You have been a great friend and much more than that. You will always be in my heart.
Another thank you goes to David Reitzel. Thank you for your prayers during your pilgrimage along with Curtis, and especially thank you for having been such a good friend when the going got tough. I will always be grateful to you for the wisdom, prudence, charity, and friendship you showed me.
I also want to thank my aunt Belinda, who will be receiving me in her Sweden home for a few days before I go back to Canada. Thank you for reading my blog and for all your support, as well as for receiving me in your house so generously. I am really excited to finally visit you as we had wished for such a long time!
I want to also thank my siblings, Ruben, Antonio and Lou. Thank you guys for your support and for following along with my blog. I miss you and I look forward to seeing you in just a week and a half!
Ruben, even though I haven't talked to you that much this summer, I want to thank you for reading my blog. I hope you got to see a different side of me :) Also, thank you so much for considering coming along to Stratford on the 19th. I know you are so busy but it means the world to me that you be there!
Antonio, thank you also for reading my blog and for the msn conversations we had, especially on the last few days! I hope that you found the contacts you wanted! I really hope you can make it to the brunch. It will be fun! :D
Lou, thank you so much for your funny and sweet messages on my blog and facebook. They always brightened my day! I actually took that picture of the lady with the purple cotton-candy hair thinking you would laugh :P so I am glad you did! Hahahaha! I am sorry I did not get to see you off when you moved out to Toronto. Look at you! You are all grown up now. It's ok though. You are still my baby sister :)
I also want to thank Tony DeGennaro, who has become one of my closest friends. Tone, thank you so much for all your support, care and encouragement over the last few months, as well as for all the laughs, interesting conversations, kind words, good advice and fruitful prayers. Thanks for always being there for me.
Also, and very importantly, I want to thank Tom Ciochon. Thank you so much for helping me investigate about my fraudulent pseudo-landlord, for actually going to the house and knocking on the door, and for talking to the real owner of the house. You saved me a lot of money and emotional stress! Thank you so much for being such a good friend! I owe you BIG TIME! So let's do lunch when I get back!
And OF COURSE, I cannot end without thanking Orest Muriy, my host brother here in Ukraine, and his whole family (please translate this to them, hehehe). Thank you for all the hard work you put into helping me with the lessons, the translations, the visits to the internat, showing me around Ternopil, helping me get comfortable with the culture, finding out information for me, making multiple phone calls to request taxis for me, phoning numerous other non-Anglophones on my behalf, and especially for going with me to the parishes to talk to the priests about the charities. I would not have been able to make it without you! Please also thank your family for all their hospitality and for all the love they showed me. I will always keep you guys in my heart.
Thank you Krystina, Mama Ola and Baba, for always cooking for me, making sure I was always comfortable (and FULL!! :P), and for being the best host family I could have asked for! I am going to miss you all so very much!
I also want to thank Gayla Hurley and Lena, the Christian Missionaries who visit the Internat once a week. Thank you for all the work and the love you have given these girls. I am so very happy to know that they will always have someone like you two to talk to them about God and to show them love. Thank you for the stories, the fun times, the Bible studies and your friendship in general. I will miss you.
In the same way, I want to thank my many new Ukrainian friends (especially Irynka Iashchyshchak) and new African friends here in Ukraine, including Oti Manuh and "The Davids": Alenga David (King David), David Mwita (D@vid D@vid), and David Onguko (David Kenya). You were so much fun! I will miss you guys so much!
Finally, I want to thank each and everyone of you, friends and family, who have been reading my blog throughout this summer. To all of you, whether you read very sporadically or were a reading super-hero and endured my insanely long entries (sometimes 5 pages or longer), a really big thanks! I hope you got to know me a little bit better and to witness some of my experiences. I especially thank all of you who left me comments and messages on facebook and directly on my blog entries. Each time I got a message from you, it was like a recharging boost of energy! In this regard, a special thanks goes to (in no particular order) Tony Alexander, Ania Piechota, Tony DeGennaro, Anya Gawor, Elyse Redden, Jen Verheyden, Jen Deweerd, Jessical Vorsteveld, Noela Vorsteveld (Jessica's mom), Alana Roney, Orest Muriy, my Aunt Belinda, Michael Hayes, Jess DB, Daniel Goc, Andrew Purcell, Grayson Hope, Avril Olivares (my cousin), Rev. Dariusz Lewandowski, Ewelina Widerska, Theresa Gilbert, Matt Pankhurst and Janine Yutronkie. There are SOOOO MANY more of you, so I am sorry I did not mention each and everyone of you who left me at least a message. Just know that I appreciate all of you.
If I missed anyone, please PLEASE forgive me, first of all, and let me know!!
I just want to say one more time... Miss you all, Love you all. God bless!
Today was my last day at the internat so I just want to thank everyone who has been so supportive and so instrumental during my Ukraine trip. I know this is going to sound like I think I just won an Oscar or released a musical album, hahaha, but oh well... Thanks ARE in order...
First of all, I want to thank Dr. Joanne Benham-Rennick. Thank you for having thought of me when this grant became available, and for offering it to me despite the fact that you knew that I had my summer already packed with plans. You really changed my life by offering me this incredible opportunity. I will never be able to thank you enough.
Secondly, I would like to thank my mom and dad for all your support. Without your love, support and encouragement, I would not have had the courage to go ahead with this incredible challenge. I love you both so very much!
Mamaita, gracias por todo tu apoyo, especialmente atraves de tus oraciones y de nuestras conversaciones en el telefono que me ayudaron a no sentime sola y a agarrar fuerzas cuando me sentia completamente agobiada. Tu amistad y tu carino han sido mi apoyo, y con tu ayuda, he podido crecer mas de lo que esperaba. Te quiero mucho, Mama.
(Mommy, thank you for all your support, especially through your prayers and through our phone conversations that helped me not to feel alone and to regain my strength when I felt so completely overwhelmed. Your friendship and love have been my support, and with your help, I have been able to grow more than what I expected. I love you, Mom.)
Papaito, quiero agradecerte por todo tu apoyo, especialmente sabiendo que mi viaje te preocupaba por razones de seguridad y porque te preocuaba cual seria el impacto emocional de esta experiencia. Quiero que sepas que tu apoyo significa todo para mi, y tus oraciones me han fortaliecido de una manera impresionante. Espero que estes orgulloso de mi. Te quiero mucho, Papa.
(Dad, I want to thank you for all of your support, especially knowing that my trip worried you because of safety issues and because you worried about the emotional impact that this experience would have on me. I want you to know that your support means everything to me, and your prayers have strengthened me incredibly. I hope you are proud of me. I love you, Dad.)
I would also like to thank Elyse Redden, Academic Support Officer at SJU. Thank you for all your help with getting all the documents and paperwork ready for my move. You were incredibly efficient and helpful, and without you I would not have been able to fulfill all the requirements on time. You are the best!
Next, I would like to thank Dr. Myrowslaw Tataryn, the dean of St. Jerome's University. Thank you for setting up the connections with the university and the internat here in Ukraine, as well as for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to give me the necessary orientation about my placement. I really appreciate your help!
Of course, I would like to thank Students for Development, the organization which allowed me to embark on this wonderful experience thanks to their generous grant, which I hope I have been able to put to good use in helping these girls find their self-worth and increasing their quality of life.
Likewise, I would like to thank Sarah Noonan, who had been to the internat inprevious years. Thanks for the very helpful orientation you gave me. It really made my adjustment here a lot easier :)
Next, I want to thank my boss at the SJU Library, Lorna Rourke. Thank you so much for helping me out with the issue about my book for my course! I was so stressed out about it and you were so kind to have helped me out like that! I look forward to coming back for one more term at the library! :)
I also want to thank Jennifer Deweerd and Jessica Vorsteveld, the two other musketeers, my two wonderful orphanage co-volunteers. Girls, I am so glad to have been able to experience this with you two! I really missed you the last few weeks! I will always treasure your friendship!
Jessica, thank you for always having a smile on your face, for always making me laugh, and for working so hard to reach even those girls who would flat out reject you. I learned a lot from your perseverance and self-giving :)
And Jen, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, from the very first day you heard I was joining the project. Your devotion and self-giving to these girls, especially the little ones, is a true inspiration.
Next, I would like to thank a very special friend of mine. His name is Andrew Purcell :) Andy, you have been a great friend throughout this trip. Thank you so much for helping me keep my sanity when I first found out about this trip and was running like a chicken with my head cut off trying to prepare for it. Also thank you so much for your friendship, online-companionship and encouragement during my actual trip. You always brought a smile on my face during out msn conversations :) You are the best, Timone! :P Thanks for the Hakuna Matata moments!
In a very special way, I would like to thank my best friend, Ania Piechota. Girlie, thank you so much for all your prayers, your encouragement, and especially, your devoted friendship. I have never had a girl friend like you! Also, thank you so much for helping me find house rental adds after you found out about the fraud of which I was a victim. You're the best! I miss you so much!! I can't wait to go back to school and giggle in class with you like we used to during our Psych of Death and Dying class, hehehe.
I would also like to thank Dr. Frick, my professor for my RS 398 Systematic Theology directed readings course. You have been infinitely patient and merciful with me and my late assignments. I cannot be more grateful to you! I will hand in good work soon. I promise! I am really looking forward to having that discussion about the course when I come back!
In a very special way, I also want to thank Curtis Miller, my ex-boyfriend, now seminarian, and a dear, dear friend of mine. Curt, I just want to thank you for all your prayers during your pilgrimage and for all your support and care. I will miss you very much now that you are leaving for seminary. I am sorry I will not be back to Canada before you leave. I hope that God fills your heart with joy in this new path he has put before you. You have been a great friend and much more than that. You will always be in my heart.
Another thank you goes to David Reitzel. Thank you for your prayers during your pilgrimage along with Curtis, and especially thank you for having been such a good friend when the going got tough. I will always be grateful to you for the wisdom, prudence, charity, and friendship you showed me.
I also want to thank my aunt Belinda, who will be receiving me in her Sweden home for a few days before I go back to Canada. Thank you for reading my blog and for all your support, as well as for receiving me in your house so generously. I am really excited to finally visit you as we had wished for such a long time!
I want to also thank my siblings, Ruben, Antonio and Lou. Thank you guys for your support and for following along with my blog. I miss you and I look forward to seeing you in just a week and a half!
Ruben, even though I haven't talked to you that much this summer, I want to thank you for reading my blog. I hope you got to see a different side of me :) Also, thank you so much for considering coming along to Stratford on the 19th. I know you are so busy but it means the world to me that you be there!
Antonio, thank you also for reading my blog and for the msn conversations we had, especially on the last few days! I hope that you found the contacts you wanted! I really hope you can make it to the brunch. It will be fun! :D
Lou, thank you so much for your funny and sweet messages on my blog and facebook. They always brightened my day! I actually took that picture of the lady with the purple cotton-candy hair thinking you would laugh :P so I am glad you did! Hahahaha! I am sorry I did not get to see you off when you moved out to Toronto. Look at you! You are all grown up now. It's ok though. You are still my baby sister :)
I also want to thank Tony DeGennaro, who has become one of my closest friends. Tone, thank you so much for all your support, care and encouragement over the last few months, as well as for all the laughs, interesting conversations, kind words, good advice and fruitful prayers. Thanks for always being there for me.
Also, and very importantly, I want to thank Tom Ciochon. Thank you so much for helping me investigate about my fraudulent pseudo-landlord, for actually going to the house and knocking on the door, and for talking to the real owner of the house. You saved me a lot of money and emotional stress! Thank you so much for being such a good friend! I owe you BIG TIME! So let's do lunch when I get back!
And OF COURSE, I cannot end without thanking Orest Muriy, my host brother here in Ukraine, and his whole family (please translate this to them, hehehe). Thank you for all the hard work you put into helping me with the lessons, the translations, the visits to the internat, showing me around Ternopil, helping me get comfortable with the culture, finding out information for me, making multiple phone calls to request taxis for me, phoning numerous other non-Anglophones on my behalf, and especially for going with me to the parishes to talk to the priests about the charities. I would not have been able to make it without you! Please also thank your family for all their hospitality and for all the love they showed me. I will always keep you guys in my heart.
Thank you Krystina, Mama Ola and Baba, for always cooking for me, making sure I was always comfortable (and FULL!! :P), and for being the best host family I could have asked for! I am going to miss you all so very much!
I also want to thank Gayla Hurley and Lena, the Christian Missionaries who visit the Internat once a week. Thank you for all the work and the love you have given these girls. I am so very happy to know that they will always have someone like you two to talk to them about God and to show them love. Thank you for the stories, the fun times, the Bible studies and your friendship in general. I will miss you.
In the same way, I want to thank my many new Ukrainian friends (especially Irynka Iashchyshchak) and new African friends here in Ukraine, including Oti Manuh and "The Davids": Alenga David (King David), David Mwita (D@vid D@vid), and David Onguko (David Kenya). You were so much fun! I will miss you guys so much!
Finally, I want to thank each and everyone of you, friends and family, who have been reading my blog throughout this summer. To all of you, whether you read very sporadically or were a reading super-hero and endured my insanely long entries (sometimes 5 pages or longer), a really big thanks! I hope you got to know me a little bit better and to witness some of my experiences. I especially thank all of you who left me comments and messages on facebook and directly on my blog entries. Each time I got a message from you, it was like a recharging boost of energy! In this regard, a special thanks goes to (in no particular order) Tony Alexander, Ania Piechota, Tony DeGennaro, Anya Gawor, Elyse Redden, Jen Verheyden, Jen Deweerd, Jessical Vorsteveld, Noela Vorsteveld (Jessica's mom), Alana Roney, Orest Muriy, my Aunt Belinda, Michael Hayes, Jess DB, Daniel Goc, Andrew Purcell, Grayson Hope, Avril Olivares (my cousin), Rev. Dariusz Lewandowski, Ewelina Widerska, Theresa Gilbert, Matt Pankhurst and Janine Yutronkie. There are SOOOO MANY more of you, so I am sorry I did not mention each and everyone of you who left me at least a message. Just know that I appreciate all of you.
If I missed anyone, please PLEASE forgive me, first of all, and let me know!!
I just want to say one more time... Miss you all, Love you all. God bless!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Two Weeks: Past and Future
Before the weekend gets too crazy and I let it pass for any longer, I thought it would be a good idea to blog about what I've been up to for the last two weeks, as well as my plans for the next two weeks!
In my last post I gave you an idea of the sort of things I have been up to while only last few weeks of my stay in Ukraine. In addition to that, I have been making use of my grant to re-stock the internat with a number of very-needed items for which there is just no funding. Like I mentioned before, I have provided the girls with school supplies, ABC books, and other educational materials, as well as with development-promoting toys for the little ones. I am still fighting to get the staff to let the girls use all of this stuff on a regular basis, rather than leave it on the shelves, as it is their custom (*frustration boiling up*)
Aside from this, a few things have happened that are out of the ordinary. For one, I am really sad to say that Marena, the girl who was found 5 months pregnant and was sent away, is back... she is not pregnant anymore :( It makes my heart squirm in pain to just think about it... That poor little child, at 5 months of development, being ripped from his mother's womb, with no one to plead for him or her (I don't know whether it was a boy or a girl) nor for the mother. There was nothing she could do. The decision was made for her. I won't say much more because I have already made my position clear before. All I can say is that my heart aches for each and every one of these girls who has gone through such a horrible experience, without ever even getting a choice :'(
On a lighter note, the other day I got all the girls to write their names on these coloured sheets of paper for me to put on the thank-you posters for the churches. It was so much fun! Many of them couldn't really write their name, so they used the help of their peers to do so. For example, Luba would write the name of a little girl on her arm, and we would have the little girl copy her own name onto the paper, one letter at a time. It took a long time, but it was awesome! I wanted the girls to write their own names, rather than have me write them :) I will keep one of the pages for myself :)
Another unusual thing that happened was actually quite unexpected! I guess perhaps I have made all of the staff at the internat seem like evil ogres that mistreat and neglect all of these beautiful little girls, and to some extent, that is true. But there are also a few kind-hearted souls among the staff, including a lady by the name of Luba. The other day I got to properly meet her for the first time (I had seen her around and said hello before, but that was about it). This was on a Saturday, and it was the first time I got to see the little chapel at the internat. I think I might have mentioned this before (gees, I cannot even remember what I have written and what I haven't!). In any case, the chapel was nothing more than just another classroom, but it as beautifully decorated with all sorts of icons and other images. My favourite part, of course, was the picture of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, which was hung on the left hand side. There was also a small altar, traditionally decorated with icons, crosses, etc. Luba showed me around, and we had a brief, broken conversation about my family, my faith, and my work at the internat (it is amazing how much you can say, even with such poor Ukrainian language skills on my part!) A few of the girls had already gather around us, all of them showing me the brand new crucifixes they had just been given. They were sporting their crosses with great pride, which made me feel such joy. I was really glad to see that Luba was promoting faith in Jesus in these little ones. It is not only a part of their culture, but it is so very important for them to keep hope (not to mention Salvation! But we won't go there :)). If you watch the videos I posted, the one about the Room of the Malenkas was taken on this day, and you can see the crosses they got.
Well, as it turns out, Luba organized a trip to take the girls to Zervanetsya, a Ukrainian Catholic Shrine that is very important in this area. The girls were gone for a FULL WEEK! While I was thrilled that the girls got to go to the shrine, I was kind of sad about it when I first heard of it because I had very little time left here, and all the girls who were going were the ones that I have the most interaction with. Only the little girls and the ones with severe mental disabilities stayed, as well as a number of the older ones who stayed to work. However, it actually turned out great. This forced me to spend more time with some of the girls that I had not spent as much time with...
For one, I got to spend a lot more time with the Malenkas (the little girls), which was beautiful. We had a lot of fun the last few days. The other day I came to the internat in the afternoon, while the girls were supposed to be laying down. Some of them take naps, but most of the time the girls just roll around in their beds, giggling and just resting, even if not asleep. When I got into the room, I hugged each and every one of them. They look so cute all cuddled up in their blankets :P There was a staff member there, of course. She was very nice and tried to make conversation with me. As we were talking, I sat at the head of Viera's bed, with Viera laying her head on my lap. I just hugged her and pet her baby-soft blong hair. She clings to me a lot. I love her so much. And then, something happened... the woman I was talking to started to tell me which of the girls there had mothers and which ones didn't... RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GIRLS!!! She would point at a girl and say, "She as a mother, but is in Italy (Olia)", then point at another one and say "She doesn't have a mother", etc. I could not believe she was saying that in front of the girls. I felt a sting. I know the woman wasn't trying to be mean, but still! To her it was as normal and comfortable as talking about the weather. Sure, maybe they are used to the knowledge that their mothers are dead or don't want them, but do they need to hear it over and over?? These girls are 3-6 years old! :( (Olia is 9 but I have explained before that she is like a 3 year old)...
And then, the woman pointed at Viera, who was still laying on my lap, and she said "Viera doesn't have a mother. Do you, Viera?" !!!!!! Viera, with her little voice sad but calm, replied, "No. I don't have a mother." My heart stopped... Tears started to form in my eyes. But just before I could say or do anything, the woman said, "But Viera, you have love in your heart, don't you? You love other people, like Nastia, and your other sisters." Viera answered, "Yes, I have love. I love Nastia." And she smiled. And just that very second, she turned around, looked up at me, and said... "I love you, Miri".............. At this point I just couldn't help it any longer and tears literally ran down my face. I pulled Viera up, I hugged tightly, and I told her "I love you too, Viera." And just held her like that for a few seconds...
There is not much more I can say about that. When the moment passed, everything went back to normal, as if nothing had been said. The woman did not even make any comment. She just smiled briefly, and soon after got all the girls ready to go downstairs and play. Olia had been sound asleep and when they woke her up, it turned out that she was swimming in pee :( I don't know how we didn't even notice! It must have just happened so it didn't smell. Or maybe, I just got used to the bad smell of that room, since it always smells like urine, just a few moments after I got in, and therefore did not notice it. How can that even happen! It made me feel so bad. Immediately, all the other little girls started to remove the sheets of Olia's bed, and THEY cleaned the mattress!! The staff member just wiped it again quickly with a sheet before going down. No soap, no disinfectant. Nothing. It all happened so fast that in less than 5 minutes we were all outside of the room. In those 5 short minutes, the girls had cleaned the bed, put on their dresses and shoes and were ready to go. I was still too much in shock to be of much help, but I did help the girls to button up their dresses. After that, I went home... I needed to think...
** My dear little ones, how much I'm going to miss you!! :( **
And so the days have gone by. I also made time to spend with the girls who have more severe mental disabilities. It is hard to do that, because I have no training and I am unsure of what to do with them. A few of them get very, very, very clingy and excited when I am with them, and literally they can be glued to me like velcro, to the point of suffocation! I am NOT joking! I have to untangle myself from their rigid limbs and try to hug them in a more gentle way. Others are completely withdrawn and hardly even let you touch them, especially one of them, who tends to get rather aggressive. Others, like Inessa, are a lot more gentle and easier to relate to, even if they are completely non-verbal. Because of their disabilities, with these girls sometimes the only thing you can do is just sit. Sit with them on the benches outside. Saying nothing. Doing nothing. Just being. Being with one another. And you know what? They cannot say anything. But I can tell they appreciate it. They smile. They follow you around if you leave to talk to someone else. They crave your presence, even if it seems you are not interacting with them at all. To them, you are. What an easier way there is to make someone happy than just to sit quietly beside them. I have truly learned the value of that. One day I sat beside one of these girls. She tends to mumble the same sentence all the time. I am not sure exactly what she says, but Jessica seemed to think that she was saying "Momma, I want, I want". She always sits alone on the benches outside. She has a very dark tan line from just sitting in the sun every day, all by herself. So I sat beside her, and I held her hand. She looked at me with excitement and smiled enormously. Her teeth were atrocious; yet, I have seen few more beautiful and genuine smiles in my life. I held her hand, and I prayed to God for her and for all of the girls. It was such a peaceful moment. I will always treasure it.
The other group of girls that I got to spend some more time with were the older ones. As I have mentioned before, Hanna, who used to be a big pain in the neck to Jessica, and who used to ignore me completely, is now very nice and attentive to me. Ever since the day of the bags, she has been a lot more sociable. The other day, I had to walk home because it was Sunday and the buses do not run. To my surprise, Hanna offered to walk with me!! Luba and Katia joined us, and they walked me all the way to the highway! We walked slowly, so it took at least 20 minutes. The entire way, Hanna talked to me and asked me questions. I could only understand a very minimal portion of what she was saying, but I tried my best to communicate with her. I told them about my faith and about how I love God, and asked them if they believed in God. It was a very interesting and powerful conversation, despite of how broken it was! It truly amazed me! I was dumb-struck at how much patience Hanna was having with my poor language skills. I would have expected her to grow exasperated with me, but she didn't! It was such a great experience.
The other day, I also spent time with Hanna and Tamara building a puzzle I brought for them. Puzzles are one of my favourite hobbies, so I thought I'd give it a try. Valia sat beside us and watched us build the puzzle. She has Down Syndrome and she was not able to really participate (she found it incredibly difficult), but she enjoyed being with us and just watching. Hanna, Tamara and I had a great time. I also brought a couple of other games for the older girls, including Twister!! I am SO excited to play it with them. Maybe we will tonight, or perhaps tomorrow.
__
Aside from that, I have been trying to get a hold of the priest at the third church to talk about the charities. It has been quite an ordeal because of Orest being gone on vacation and such. However, even though we are cutting it close for time, we are going to go talk to him tomorrow. My main goal here is to create connections between the churches and the internat, hopefully setting up more funds to go to Caritas so that they can be channeled to the Internat through Irena. So far that worked with the first church I appealed to. I made a poster to thank them for their collection's contribution, as well as for their set up of a regular charity with Caritas.
The second church I approached was my church, which is the only Roman Catholic church in Ternopil. The priest was incredibly nice and very opened. Unfortunately their parish community cannot really provide much financial support right now because they are in debt from building their new church, but the priest promised to create a connection with Irena at the internat, as well as to write me a letter to appeal to the Canadian Ukrainian Catholic community in Waterloo. This was Myrowlaw's idea, and I think it is fantastic! I hope that the third church goes as well as the first one did, but if not, at least as good as the second one :)
___
So what now? Well, today is a special holiday here in Ternopil. It is a special Marian day, so there is a big celebration. Baba's name is Maria, so they are having a small family get together here this afternoon. That is why I am not at the internat right now. I will go there in the evening today, after the family lunch is over, otherwise I would not be able to be back on time if I went this morning.
Tomorrow, as I said, I will go in the morning with Orest to talk to the priest, and after that we are meeting "The Davids" and the rest of my African friends for lunch. Sunday and Monday are going to consist of tying things up and saying my final goodbyes to all the people I have met here, as well as packing and sorting through my things. As it turns out, I am going to have to leave more than half of my luggage with the girls! This is because I brought 46 kilograms of luggage to Ukraine, according to standard luggage allowances to and from Canada to Europe, but what I didn't know is that the luggage weight allowance for flights within Europe is of only 20 kilograms!! And the fees for extra weight are RIDICULOUS! My flight back to Canada leaves from Stockholm, Swden, since I decided to visit my aunt there, and it will be far less expensive for me to leave most of my stuff beghind and just buy new clothes to replace them in Canada than it is for me to ship them or bring them with me! :S I wasn't planning on making this expense, but oh well. Such is life. At the very least I am glad that I can leave my stuff with the girls. I am sure they can make use of it :) What I am mostly likely going to do is to go to Good Will and Value Village (second hand/thrift stores) and just re-do my wardrobe, since I brought most of the clothes I wear on a regular basis with me, and I will have to leave them behind. It's ok though. I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores, anyway, so it is not a big deal :)
I guess I am more concerned about being able to bring gifts for my family, friends, and teachers... I hope I can keep everything under the limited weight limit :P Fortunately, Orest is coming with me to Lviv to see me off at the airport. That will make things infinitely easier! Wow... I can't believe I am leaving. Time has just FLOWN by! By this time next week, I will be in Sweden, visiting my aunt, and soon after I will be in Canada! Back to school and back to work! Wow!
So much has happened this summer! I can't believe how many changes have taken place... in my personal growth at the internat, in my faith, in my academic pursuits (I think I am going to pursue a Master's of Social Work instead of a Master's of Divinity now!), in my personal life :), in my view of the world... I feel like I am a different person. I have so many flaws, and I know I have screwed things up a lot in the past, but I don't want to be like that anymore. I don't want to be so selfish. I don't want to be so self-centered, or judgmental, or critical. You know, it is easy to become cynical when you see other people's suffering. It is easy to doubt and to lose faith in humanity. But then, in the midst of all the muck, I have discovered so much love, so much joy, so much hope! These girls have changed me. I could be cynical and say, "What the hey! There is nothing I can do so I might just as well accept that's just the way the world is and live my life..." But instead, I want to say, "There is so much reason for hope. All I can do is do the little I can, entrust it to God, and let him do the rest." That is how I want to live. I know I still have many flaws, and it would be a lie if I said that I will never fall in the same defects of my past again, but at least I can say I want to try. I just hope that my family and friends can see a difference in me, one that is for the better :) I hope I can truly be changed, deep inside.
Thanks again for reading all my ramblings. I'll be home soon :) Please pray for me. Please also pray for a special intention of mine (for a friend who is going through a very hard time right now). I will pray for you too. Love you all, Miss you all. God bless.
In my last post I gave you an idea of the sort of things I have been up to while only last few weeks of my stay in Ukraine. In addition to that, I have been making use of my grant to re-stock the internat with a number of very-needed items for which there is just no funding. Like I mentioned before, I have provided the girls with school supplies, ABC books, and other educational materials, as well as with development-promoting toys for the little ones. I am still fighting to get the staff to let the girls use all of this stuff on a regular basis, rather than leave it on the shelves, as it is their custom (*frustration boiling up*)
Aside from this, a few things have happened that are out of the ordinary. For one, I am really sad to say that Marena, the girl who was found 5 months pregnant and was sent away, is back... she is not pregnant anymore :( It makes my heart squirm in pain to just think about it... That poor little child, at 5 months of development, being ripped from his mother's womb, with no one to plead for him or her (I don't know whether it was a boy or a girl) nor for the mother. There was nothing she could do. The decision was made for her. I won't say much more because I have already made my position clear before. All I can say is that my heart aches for each and every one of these girls who has gone through such a horrible experience, without ever even getting a choice :'(
On a lighter note, the other day I got all the girls to write their names on these coloured sheets of paper for me to put on the thank-you posters for the churches. It was so much fun! Many of them couldn't really write their name, so they used the help of their peers to do so. For example, Luba would write the name of a little girl on her arm, and we would have the little girl copy her own name onto the paper, one letter at a time. It took a long time, but it was awesome! I wanted the girls to write their own names, rather than have me write them :) I will keep one of the pages for myself :)
Another unusual thing that happened was actually quite unexpected! I guess perhaps I have made all of the staff at the internat seem like evil ogres that mistreat and neglect all of these beautiful little girls, and to some extent, that is true. But there are also a few kind-hearted souls among the staff, including a lady by the name of Luba. The other day I got to properly meet her for the first time (I had seen her around and said hello before, but that was about it). This was on a Saturday, and it was the first time I got to see the little chapel at the internat. I think I might have mentioned this before (gees, I cannot even remember what I have written and what I haven't!). In any case, the chapel was nothing more than just another classroom, but it as beautifully decorated with all sorts of icons and other images. My favourite part, of course, was the picture of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, which was hung on the left hand side. There was also a small altar, traditionally decorated with icons, crosses, etc. Luba showed me around, and we had a brief, broken conversation about my family, my faith, and my work at the internat (it is amazing how much you can say, even with such poor Ukrainian language skills on my part!) A few of the girls had already gather around us, all of them showing me the brand new crucifixes they had just been given. They were sporting their crosses with great pride, which made me feel such joy. I was really glad to see that Luba was promoting faith in Jesus in these little ones. It is not only a part of their culture, but it is so very important for them to keep hope (not to mention Salvation! But we won't go there :)). If you watch the videos I posted, the one about the Room of the Malenkas was taken on this day, and you can see the crosses they got.
Well, as it turns out, Luba organized a trip to take the girls to Zervanetsya, a Ukrainian Catholic Shrine that is very important in this area. The girls were gone for a FULL WEEK! While I was thrilled that the girls got to go to the shrine, I was kind of sad about it when I first heard of it because I had very little time left here, and all the girls who were going were the ones that I have the most interaction with. Only the little girls and the ones with severe mental disabilities stayed, as well as a number of the older ones who stayed to work. However, it actually turned out great. This forced me to spend more time with some of the girls that I had not spent as much time with...
For one, I got to spend a lot more time with the Malenkas (the little girls), which was beautiful. We had a lot of fun the last few days. The other day I came to the internat in the afternoon, while the girls were supposed to be laying down. Some of them take naps, but most of the time the girls just roll around in their beds, giggling and just resting, even if not asleep. When I got into the room, I hugged each and every one of them. They look so cute all cuddled up in their blankets :P There was a staff member there, of course. She was very nice and tried to make conversation with me. As we were talking, I sat at the head of Viera's bed, with Viera laying her head on my lap. I just hugged her and pet her baby-soft blong hair. She clings to me a lot. I love her so much. And then, something happened... the woman I was talking to started to tell me which of the girls there had mothers and which ones didn't... RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GIRLS!!! She would point at a girl and say, "She as a mother, but is in Italy (Olia)", then point at another one and say "She doesn't have a mother", etc. I could not believe she was saying that in front of the girls. I felt a sting. I know the woman wasn't trying to be mean, but still! To her it was as normal and comfortable as talking about the weather. Sure, maybe they are used to the knowledge that their mothers are dead or don't want them, but do they need to hear it over and over?? These girls are 3-6 years old! :( (Olia is 9 but I have explained before that she is like a 3 year old)...
And then, the woman pointed at Viera, who was still laying on my lap, and she said "Viera doesn't have a mother. Do you, Viera?" !!!!!! Viera, with her little voice sad but calm, replied, "No. I don't have a mother." My heart stopped... Tears started to form in my eyes. But just before I could say or do anything, the woman said, "But Viera, you have love in your heart, don't you? You love other people, like Nastia, and your other sisters." Viera answered, "Yes, I have love. I love Nastia." And she smiled. And just that very second, she turned around, looked up at me, and said... "I love you, Miri".............. At this point I just couldn't help it any longer and tears literally ran down my face. I pulled Viera up, I hugged tightly, and I told her "I love you too, Viera." And just held her like that for a few seconds...
There is not much more I can say about that. When the moment passed, everything went back to normal, as if nothing had been said. The woman did not even make any comment. She just smiled briefly, and soon after got all the girls ready to go downstairs and play. Olia had been sound asleep and when they woke her up, it turned out that she was swimming in pee :( I don't know how we didn't even notice! It must have just happened so it didn't smell. Or maybe, I just got used to the bad smell of that room, since it always smells like urine, just a few moments after I got in, and therefore did not notice it. How can that even happen! It made me feel so bad. Immediately, all the other little girls started to remove the sheets of Olia's bed, and THEY cleaned the mattress!! The staff member just wiped it again quickly with a sheet before going down. No soap, no disinfectant. Nothing. It all happened so fast that in less than 5 minutes we were all outside of the room. In those 5 short minutes, the girls had cleaned the bed, put on their dresses and shoes and were ready to go. I was still too much in shock to be of much help, but I did help the girls to button up their dresses. After that, I went home... I needed to think...
** My dear little ones, how much I'm going to miss you!! :( **
And so the days have gone by. I also made time to spend with the girls who have more severe mental disabilities. It is hard to do that, because I have no training and I am unsure of what to do with them. A few of them get very, very, very clingy and excited when I am with them, and literally they can be glued to me like velcro, to the point of suffocation! I am NOT joking! I have to untangle myself from their rigid limbs and try to hug them in a more gentle way. Others are completely withdrawn and hardly even let you touch them, especially one of them, who tends to get rather aggressive. Others, like Inessa, are a lot more gentle and easier to relate to, even if they are completely non-verbal. Because of their disabilities, with these girls sometimes the only thing you can do is just sit. Sit with them on the benches outside. Saying nothing. Doing nothing. Just being. Being with one another. And you know what? They cannot say anything. But I can tell they appreciate it. They smile. They follow you around if you leave to talk to someone else. They crave your presence, even if it seems you are not interacting with them at all. To them, you are. What an easier way there is to make someone happy than just to sit quietly beside them. I have truly learned the value of that. One day I sat beside one of these girls. She tends to mumble the same sentence all the time. I am not sure exactly what she says, but Jessica seemed to think that she was saying "Momma, I want, I want". She always sits alone on the benches outside. She has a very dark tan line from just sitting in the sun every day, all by herself. So I sat beside her, and I held her hand. She looked at me with excitement and smiled enormously. Her teeth were atrocious; yet, I have seen few more beautiful and genuine smiles in my life. I held her hand, and I prayed to God for her and for all of the girls. It was such a peaceful moment. I will always treasure it.
The other group of girls that I got to spend some more time with were the older ones. As I have mentioned before, Hanna, who used to be a big pain in the neck to Jessica, and who used to ignore me completely, is now very nice and attentive to me. Ever since the day of the bags, she has been a lot more sociable. The other day, I had to walk home because it was Sunday and the buses do not run. To my surprise, Hanna offered to walk with me!! Luba and Katia joined us, and they walked me all the way to the highway! We walked slowly, so it took at least 20 minutes. The entire way, Hanna talked to me and asked me questions. I could only understand a very minimal portion of what she was saying, but I tried my best to communicate with her. I told them about my faith and about how I love God, and asked them if they believed in God. It was a very interesting and powerful conversation, despite of how broken it was! It truly amazed me! I was dumb-struck at how much patience Hanna was having with my poor language skills. I would have expected her to grow exasperated with me, but she didn't! It was such a great experience.
The other day, I also spent time with Hanna and Tamara building a puzzle I brought for them. Puzzles are one of my favourite hobbies, so I thought I'd give it a try. Valia sat beside us and watched us build the puzzle. She has Down Syndrome and she was not able to really participate (she found it incredibly difficult), but she enjoyed being with us and just watching. Hanna, Tamara and I had a great time. I also brought a couple of other games for the older girls, including Twister!! I am SO excited to play it with them. Maybe we will tonight, or perhaps tomorrow.
__
Aside from that, I have been trying to get a hold of the priest at the third church to talk about the charities. It has been quite an ordeal because of Orest being gone on vacation and such. However, even though we are cutting it close for time, we are going to go talk to him tomorrow. My main goal here is to create connections between the churches and the internat, hopefully setting up more funds to go to Caritas so that they can be channeled to the Internat through Irena. So far that worked with the first church I appealed to. I made a poster to thank them for their collection's contribution, as well as for their set up of a regular charity with Caritas.
The second church I approached was my church, which is the only Roman Catholic church in Ternopil. The priest was incredibly nice and very opened. Unfortunately their parish community cannot really provide much financial support right now because they are in debt from building their new church, but the priest promised to create a connection with Irena at the internat, as well as to write me a letter to appeal to the Canadian Ukrainian Catholic community in Waterloo. This was Myrowlaw's idea, and I think it is fantastic! I hope that the third church goes as well as the first one did, but if not, at least as good as the second one :)
___
So what now? Well, today is a special holiday here in Ternopil. It is a special Marian day, so there is a big celebration. Baba's name is Maria, so they are having a small family get together here this afternoon. That is why I am not at the internat right now. I will go there in the evening today, after the family lunch is over, otherwise I would not be able to be back on time if I went this morning.
Tomorrow, as I said, I will go in the morning with Orest to talk to the priest, and after that we are meeting "The Davids" and the rest of my African friends for lunch. Sunday and Monday are going to consist of tying things up and saying my final goodbyes to all the people I have met here, as well as packing and sorting through my things. As it turns out, I am going to have to leave more than half of my luggage with the girls! This is because I brought 46 kilograms of luggage to Ukraine, according to standard luggage allowances to and from Canada to Europe, but what I didn't know is that the luggage weight allowance for flights within Europe is of only 20 kilograms!! And the fees for extra weight are RIDICULOUS! My flight back to Canada leaves from Stockholm, Swden, since I decided to visit my aunt there, and it will be far less expensive for me to leave most of my stuff beghind and just buy new clothes to replace them in Canada than it is for me to ship them or bring them with me! :S I wasn't planning on making this expense, but oh well. Such is life. At the very least I am glad that I can leave my stuff with the girls. I am sure they can make use of it :) What I am mostly likely going to do is to go to Good Will and Value Village (second hand/thrift stores) and just re-do my wardrobe, since I brought most of the clothes I wear on a regular basis with me, and I will have to leave them behind. It's ok though. I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores, anyway, so it is not a big deal :)
I guess I am more concerned about being able to bring gifts for my family, friends, and teachers... I hope I can keep everything under the limited weight limit :P Fortunately, Orest is coming with me to Lviv to see me off at the airport. That will make things infinitely easier! Wow... I can't believe I am leaving. Time has just FLOWN by! By this time next week, I will be in Sweden, visiting my aunt, and soon after I will be in Canada! Back to school and back to work! Wow!
So much has happened this summer! I can't believe how many changes have taken place... in my personal growth at the internat, in my faith, in my academic pursuits (I think I am going to pursue a Master's of Social Work instead of a Master's of Divinity now!), in my personal life :), in my view of the world... I feel like I am a different person. I have so many flaws, and I know I have screwed things up a lot in the past, but I don't want to be like that anymore. I don't want to be so selfish. I don't want to be so self-centered, or judgmental, or critical. You know, it is easy to become cynical when you see other people's suffering. It is easy to doubt and to lose faith in humanity. But then, in the midst of all the muck, I have discovered so much love, so much joy, so much hope! These girls have changed me. I could be cynical and say, "What the hey! There is nothing I can do so I might just as well accept that's just the way the world is and live my life..." But instead, I want to say, "There is so much reason for hope. All I can do is do the little I can, entrust it to God, and let him do the rest." That is how I want to live. I know I still have many flaws, and it would be a lie if I said that I will never fall in the same defects of my past again, but at least I can say I want to try. I just hope that my family and friends can see a difference in me, one that is for the better :) I hope I can truly be changed, deep inside.
Thanks again for reading all my ramblings. I'll be home soon :) Please pray for me. Please also pray for a special intention of mine (for a friend who is going through a very hard time right now). I will pray for you too. Love you all, Miss you all. God bless.
Friday, August 21, 2009
VIDEOS!!
Here I will post the links for the videos I have made as I upload them. Please keep checking back, as it takes a really long time to upload them and it might take me a couple of days :)
Also, I have added more photo albums on the MY UKRAINE FACEBOOK ALBUMS tab on the right hand side of my blog, just under the "About Me" section. You don't need to be subscribed to Facebook to see them :) Enjoy!
The Room of the Malenkas (or the "Malenkies", as I call them)
Girls singing "There is Joy Like a River in My Soul", with Gayla
Rocking to "Ne Ma, Ne Ma" and Warm Welcome :)
Our choreographed dance to "Saturday Night"
Last Year's Dance :)
Little Ladies Singing at the Recital
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=651824891757
Luba Singing at the Recital
Funny Ladies Dancing to No Music :P
These are also available on the side panel, just above the panel with my photo albums for future reference :) I hope you enjoyed them! LOL!! Love you all, Miss you all, God bless!
Also, I have added more photo albums on the MY UKRAINE FACEBOOK ALBUMS tab on the right hand side of my blog, just under the "About Me" section. You don't need to be subscribed to Facebook to see them :) Enjoy!
The Room of the Malenkas (or the "Malenkies", as I call them)
Girls singing "There is Joy Like a River in My Soul", with Gayla
Rocking to "Ne Ma, Ne Ma" and Warm Welcome :)
Our choreographed dance to "Saturday Night"
Last Year's Dance :)
Little Ladies Singing at the Recital
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=651824891757
Luba Singing at the Recital
Funny Ladies Dancing to No Music :P
These are also available on the side panel, just above the panel with my photo albums for future reference :) I hope you enjoyed them! LOL!! Love you all, Miss you all, God bless!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Home Alone
Well, technically I am neither home, nor am I totally lone, but you get the point.
The last two weeks have been very busy! So busy I don't even know where to begin. Well, perhaps I can start by mentioning how, after Jen and Jessica left, I just ended up studying like crazy for my exams, which were supposed to be on the next day. My exams went pretty well, actually, and I am just hoping that they make it safely to Canada. We had them scanned, just in case, but Gayla, who is my proctor, was not able to send the electronic copies because the files ended up being too large to send over email, even though they were on PDF format... So here I am, crossing my fingers that they make it safely to Canada...
That week I went to the internat by myself for the first time, and it went pretty well, surprisingly. We have spent a lot of time outside playing, as well as dancing, colouring, and just plain being silly! The other day the girls let me ride a bike with them! I had not done that in YEARS!! It was so exciting! Hehehe :P On another day we decided to practice our little choreography that we prepared for the concert, and one of the girls taped it for me (I shall upload it soon, maybe even within this message). Later I taught the girls to salsa! Hahahaha! It was a lot of fun. We also videotaped that, but I am too embarrassed to show you lol.
I have also spent a lot of time with the Malenkas (the little girls). I was so delighted to see little Olia laugh, which is something that I had not seen before! I took a video about the room of the malenkas, and I will also post that soon!
On another day, I sat with some of the girls to do a small drawing workshop. They tend to like it when I draw them pictures of animals, so I decided to teach them how to do it. I would draw each part, one by one, like a circle, and then a a line, and so forth, and have them repeat it after me, until we all ended up with a picture of an animal. Here, once again, I could become more acutely aware of their disabilities, which often I end up forgetting all about! It is hard to believe, but to me, these little orphans have become like normal girls, and I am so used to being around them and feel so comfortable with them, that I don't even notice their disabilities or deformities anymore. For example, a lot of them are cross-eyed, and that used to really throw me off, but now I don't even notice it. Anyhow, the drawing workshop went really well and it was a lot of fun!
And so, that is how I have spent the last few days. In addition to that, however, I have been finalizing some of the charity set ups at the churches. I was frustrated because I had not been able to talk to the other two parish priests I had in mind, mainly because of how busy I had been with school, and then because Orest went away on vacation and I didn't have a translator anymore :S Krystinca was going to do me the favour of coming with me, but then she got really sick, and so I had to wait around another full week. I do not remember if I mentioned this before, but the first church made a collection already, and we got a total of 500 hryvnia, plus another person just donated another 100 to add to that. It is not a HUGE amount of money, but it is a pretty good start!! I am just waiting for Irena to get some free time so we can go to get the necessary medications and vitamins for which the money was raised.
Another thing I did this past week was that I went with Irena to the bazaar and I just bought a TON of school supplies for the girls. They used to get funding for that sort of stuff, but now they do not, and so the girls had nothing to start the school year with. Generally, Irena asks her students (I presume she teaches at an elementary school) to bring school supplies for the girls, but even with that there was simply not enough to fulfill the needs of the girls. And so, I bought new copy books, calligraphy books, ABC books, pens, play-dough, and other items of that sort, according to what Irena told me was needed. She came with me, of course, and Orest did as well, which made it infinitely easier. In addition to the things she asked for, I bought a bunch of other books that contain very interesting information about all kinds of topics, from animals, to the human body, to cultures around the world, to volcanoes and other geographical phenomena, to the stars, etc. I used to have books like that when I was a kid, and they were some of my most precious possessions. I used to spend HOURS reading them. Irena told me that most girls cannot read at that level (by far!), but that she would ensure to read them to the girls and to show them the pictures, as well as to have the older girls read to the younger ones.
In addition to all the school supplies, I also bought a great number of toys for the younger girls, all of which were the kind of toys that help develop the motor, visual and logic skills of children. Among the things I bought were puzzles, mosaics, building blocks and cubes as well as and giant legos, as well as other toys that I am not sure how to describe but are meant to develop hand-eye coordination. You know what I mean, these are toys like the kind that Playschool makes, which are very colourful and serve as stepping stones for further development. The girls have very few toys, and the ones they do have are mostly stuffed animals that are stashed away in high, hard-to-reach shelves, and which obviously do not help them at all. The room of the Malenkas is completely empty, and so I hope that these new toys help. So long as the staff even let them play with them!! (*fuming again*) Sigh...
I guess the last thing I can add is that this week I was finally able to talk to the priest at my church about the charity. Unfortunately his parish is in a lot of debt because they have just built their church, and so he does not think that they will be able to allocate much money at all to the internat. However, he was very kind to say that he will do what he can, and he asked me to get him in contact with Irena so that in the future, when thy are more financially able to, the parish can do more to support the girls. What he did do was to take a copy of the letter that the dean of my school, Myroslaw Tataryn, sent me to hand in to the priests as a template, in order to have them modify it, sign it, and send it with me to Canada to appeal to the Ukrainian Catholic community there to help us out. These girls need so much help, and I am glad to be able to do something for them like this.
I am running out of time and with Orest being so busy it is hard to set up appointments with the priests, but I am still hoping to talk to one more priest and try my luck there before I leave. There is more I want to say, but I think I will leave it at that for this post and start a new one in a few minutes. I also have to post all of those pictures and videos, so it will be a while! Until then, love you all, miss you all. God bless!
The last two weeks have been very busy! So busy I don't even know where to begin. Well, perhaps I can start by mentioning how, after Jen and Jessica left, I just ended up studying like crazy for my exams, which were supposed to be on the next day. My exams went pretty well, actually, and I am just hoping that they make it safely to Canada. We had them scanned, just in case, but Gayla, who is my proctor, was not able to send the electronic copies because the files ended up being too large to send over email, even though they were on PDF format... So here I am, crossing my fingers that they make it safely to Canada...
That week I went to the internat by myself for the first time, and it went pretty well, surprisingly. We have spent a lot of time outside playing, as well as dancing, colouring, and just plain being silly! The other day the girls let me ride a bike with them! I had not done that in YEARS!! It was so exciting! Hehehe :P On another day we decided to practice our little choreography that we prepared for the concert, and one of the girls taped it for me (I shall upload it soon, maybe even within this message). Later I taught the girls to salsa! Hahahaha! It was a lot of fun. We also videotaped that, but I am too embarrassed to show you lol.
I have also spent a lot of time with the Malenkas (the little girls). I was so delighted to see little Olia laugh, which is something that I had not seen before! I took a video about the room of the malenkas, and I will also post that soon!
On another day, I sat with some of the girls to do a small drawing workshop. They tend to like it when I draw them pictures of animals, so I decided to teach them how to do it. I would draw each part, one by one, like a circle, and then a a line, and so forth, and have them repeat it after me, until we all ended up with a picture of an animal. Here, once again, I could become more acutely aware of their disabilities, which often I end up forgetting all about! It is hard to believe, but to me, these little orphans have become like normal girls, and I am so used to being around them and feel so comfortable with them, that I don't even notice their disabilities or deformities anymore. For example, a lot of them are cross-eyed, and that used to really throw me off, but now I don't even notice it. Anyhow, the drawing workshop went really well and it was a lot of fun!
And so, that is how I have spent the last few days. In addition to that, however, I have been finalizing some of the charity set ups at the churches. I was frustrated because I had not been able to talk to the other two parish priests I had in mind, mainly because of how busy I had been with school, and then because Orest went away on vacation and I didn't have a translator anymore :S Krystinca was going to do me the favour of coming with me, but then she got really sick, and so I had to wait around another full week. I do not remember if I mentioned this before, but the first church made a collection already, and we got a total of 500 hryvnia, plus another person just donated another 100 to add to that. It is not a HUGE amount of money, but it is a pretty good start!! I am just waiting for Irena to get some free time so we can go to get the necessary medications and vitamins for which the money was raised.
Another thing I did this past week was that I went with Irena to the bazaar and I just bought a TON of school supplies for the girls. They used to get funding for that sort of stuff, but now they do not, and so the girls had nothing to start the school year with. Generally, Irena asks her students (I presume she teaches at an elementary school) to bring school supplies for the girls, but even with that there was simply not enough to fulfill the needs of the girls. And so, I bought new copy books, calligraphy books, ABC books, pens, play-dough, and other items of that sort, according to what Irena told me was needed. She came with me, of course, and Orest did as well, which made it infinitely easier. In addition to the things she asked for, I bought a bunch of other books that contain very interesting information about all kinds of topics, from animals, to the human body, to cultures around the world, to volcanoes and other geographical phenomena, to the stars, etc. I used to have books like that when I was a kid, and they were some of my most precious possessions. I used to spend HOURS reading them. Irena told me that most girls cannot read at that level (by far!), but that she would ensure to read them to the girls and to show them the pictures, as well as to have the older girls read to the younger ones.
In addition to all the school supplies, I also bought a great number of toys for the younger girls, all of which were the kind of toys that help develop the motor, visual and logic skills of children. Among the things I bought were puzzles, mosaics, building blocks and cubes as well as and giant legos, as well as other toys that I am not sure how to describe but are meant to develop hand-eye coordination. You know what I mean, these are toys like the kind that Playschool makes, which are very colourful and serve as stepping stones for further development. The girls have very few toys, and the ones they do have are mostly stuffed animals that are stashed away in high, hard-to-reach shelves, and which obviously do not help them at all. The room of the Malenkas is completely empty, and so I hope that these new toys help. So long as the staff even let them play with them!! (*fuming again*) Sigh...
I guess the last thing I can add is that this week I was finally able to talk to the priest at my church about the charity. Unfortunately his parish is in a lot of debt because they have just built their church, and so he does not think that they will be able to allocate much money at all to the internat. However, he was very kind to say that he will do what he can, and he asked me to get him in contact with Irena so that in the future, when thy are more financially able to, the parish can do more to support the girls. What he did do was to take a copy of the letter that the dean of my school, Myroslaw Tataryn, sent me to hand in to the priests as a template, in order to have them modify it, sign it, and send it with me to Canada to appeal to the Ukrainian Catholic community there to help us out. These girls need so much help, and I am glad to be able to do something for them like this.
I am running out of time and with Orest being so busy it is hard to set up appointments with the priests, but I am still hoping to talk to one more priest and try my luck there before I leave. There is more I want to say, but I think I will leave it at that for this post and start a new one in a few minutes. I also have to post all of those pictures and videos, so it will be a while! Until then, love you all, miss you all. God bless!
Paca, Jen and Jess! I will miss you! :(
Oh! I forgot to mention before that the weekend prior to the concert, Jen, Jessica and I went out for pizza with "the Davids" at this awesome place called Kastan. It was delicious and we had a great time! The Davids are hilarious, and I was really glad to know that they would be around so that once Jen and Jessica left, I would not so lonely :)
So anyway, continuing my story from what happened that Tuesday after the concert... Jen brought some pretty crafts with feathers and all kinds of stickers for the girls to play with. It was fun. Then, Wednesday came, and it was time to say goodbye... :(
The day actually went pretty much as normal, and Jen and Jessica handed out glowing-bracelets, which were a total hit! After spending a lot of time with the Malenkas (the little girls), all the girls got called to eat their lunch. At that point, with all of the girls gather together, Jen and Jessica took the opportunity to say their goodbyes.
Lots of tears were shed by all of us, and Jessica was hoping it would end there... but it certainly didn't. A great number of the older girls came and walked with us all the way to the gate, only prolonging the goodbyes. That made it hard for Jessica. However, something great happened! Hanna, one of the older girls who had been given heck to Jessica all summer long, and on whom Jessica had work a lot to gain her trust and friendship, unexpectedly came along and even gave Jessica a hug goodbye! (after some prying by Orest, hehehe) It was such a beautiful moment, and I was so mad I did not get my camera out on time to take a picture! What is more is that Hanna, along with a bunch of the other girls, walked us all all the way to the bus stop, where we waited for a few more minutes until the bus came. It was all very emotional, but I tried to be as cheery as I could and not think about the fact that the girls were leaving. I did not like the thought that I would be alone for almost another whole month once they left... I would miss them so much! :S
So, after all that emotional charge, the necessary thing to do was to get ice cream. And so that is what we did! We went to a place called Gelato Maffia, and LET ME TELL YOU!! It was SMACHNO!! (DELICIOUS!!) I got myself a giant croissant filled with three scoops of gelato: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry: Napolitano Extraordinaire!
We talked for a while, and after that we headed to my place, where we talked for a long time, listed to some of Orest's weird music (lol) and just passed the time together one last time before their departure. I must say that I was in a really weird mood. I was really mellow. Perhaps it was my lack of sleep after taking so long to prepare those bags as well as studying for my exams. Perhaps it was just emotional exhaustion and the feeling of uncertainty that ensued from knowing that Jen and Jessica were leaving... Most likely it was both. It was nice to hang out together like that!
We had done something similar, but without Orest, a couple of times before. Once at my place, and once at Jessica's place, and both times were awesome! I had so much fun with them on the few occasions we hung out after the internat (mostly due to the fact that I always had to run to do homework), and I knew I was going to miss them.
So Thursday came, and Jen and Jessica did not come to the internat, in order to pack their bags and prepare for their next day's early departure. I did go to the internat myself, but thankfully I did not go by myself, as Krystina wanted to come with me. That was nice. I didn't feel the shock of going by myself right away. That day I taught some of he girls how to make frogs, planes and boats out of paper, you know, like origami. Doing that activity let me see the degree of mental disability of some of these girls at a level I had not yet seen before, mainly because many of these girls look perfectly normal, and without the language to show me their level of verbal skills, it is hard to tell sometimes whether some of these girls have disabilities at all. Doing origami was clearly very challenging for many of the girls. Their motor and coordination skills are not very well developed, and a few of them had trouble even just folding the paper in half! However, with patience and care, Krystina and I helped each of the girls do all of the folds of a semi complicated piece of origami, until ALL of them ended up with a nice little jumping frog! :D I was so surprised at their patience with themselves, despite the obvious difficulty of the task. I gently pushed them to get it done, not doing any of the folds for them, and just letting them help each other out, WITHOUT having the more able girls do all the work for the less-abled ones. It was quite a goal to accomplish, but in the end, it was awesome because they all got a lot of joy and delight from seeing they had been able to do it by themselves! :) It gave me great satisfaction!
The next day, I accompanied Jen and Jessica to the train station, and after a few hugs and a couple of tears between us and their respective families, we saw them off to Lviv. And that was it. I was alone.
I walked back with Orest and we stopped at a store to buy some CDs for him and a new set of headphones for me, as mine gave out their last breath two weeks before.
And so it began... four more weeks in Ukraine without Jen and Jessica.
Jen and Jessica, if you are reading this, please know that I miss you both so much and that I hope you are having a great time back at home. I will be home soon, and we will have to get together to catch up and share stories again :) Thanks for all your support and your friendship :)
That's it for that. I will continue to tell you what happened in the almost two weeks that have gone by since Jen and Jessica left, and I will soon post a few videos and tons of pictures. Until then, Love you all, miss you all. God bless!
So anyway, continuing my story from what happened that Tuesday after the concert... Jen brought some pretty crafts with feathers and all kinds of stickers for the girls to play with. It was fun. Then, Wednesday came, and it was time to say goodbye... :(
The day actually went pretty much as normal, and Jen and Jessica handed out glowing-bracelets, which were a total hit! After spending a lot of time with the Malenkas (the little girls), all the girls got called to eat their lunch. At that point, with all of the girls gather together, Jen and Jessica took the opportunity to say their goodbyes.
Lots of tears were shed by all of us, and Jessica was hoping it would end there... but it certainly didn't. A great number of the older girls came and walked with us all the way to the gate, only prolonging the goodbyes. That made it hard for Jessica. However, something great happened! Hanna, one of the older girls who had been given heck to Jessica all summer long, and on whom Jessica had work a lot to gain her trust and friendship, unexpectedly came along and even gave Jessica a hug goodbye! (after some prying by Orest, hehehe) It was such a beautiful moment, and I was so mad I did not get my camera out on time to take a picture! What is more is that Hanna, along with a bunch of the other girls, walked us all all the way to the bus stop, where we waited for a few more minutes until the bus came. It was all very emotional, but I tried to be as cheery as I could and not think about the fact that the girls were leaving. I did not like the thought that I would be alone for almost another whole month once they left... I would miss them so much! :S
So, after all that emotional charge, the necessary thing to do was to get ice cream. And so that is what we did! We went to a place called Gelato Maffia, and LET ME TELL YOU!! It was SMACHNO!! (DELICIOUS!!) I got myself a giant croissant filled with three scoops of gelato: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry: Napolitano Extraordinaire!
We talked for a while, and after that we headed to my place, where we talked for a long time, listed to some of Orest's weird music (lol) and just passed the time together one last time before their departure. I must say that I was in a really weird mood. I was really mellow. Perhaps it was my lack of sleep after taking so long to prepare those bags as well as studying for my exams. Perhaps it was just emotional exhaustion and the feeling of uncertainty that ensued from knowing that Jen and Jessica were leaving... Most likely it was both. It was nice to hang out together like that!
We had done something similar, but without Orest, a couple of times before. Once at my place, and once at Jessica's place, and both times were awesome! I had so much fun with them on the few occasions we hung out after the internat (mostly due to the fact that I always had to run to do homework), and I knew I was going to miss them.
So Thursday came, and Jen and Jessica did not come to the internat, in order to pack their bags and prepare for their next day's early departure. I did go to the internat myself, but thankfully I did not go by myself, as Krystina wanted to come with me. That was nice. I didn't feel the shock of going by myself right away. That day I taught some of he girls how to make frogs, planes and boats out of paper, you know, like origami. Doing that activity let me see the degree of mental disability of some of these girls at a level I had not yet seen before, mainly because many of these girls look perfectly normal, and without the language to show me their level of verbal skills, it is hard to tell sometimes whether some of these girls have disabilities at all. Doing origami was clearly very challenging for many of the girls. Their motor and coordination skills are not very well developed, and a few of them had trouble even just folding the paper in half! However, with patience and care, Krystina and I helped each of the girls do all of the folds of a semi complicated piece of origami, until ALL of them ended up with a nice little jumping frog! :D I was so surprised at their patience with themselves, despite the obvious difficulty of the task. I gently pushed them to get it done, not doing any of the folds for them, and just letting them help each other out, WITHOUT having the more able girls do all the work for the less-abled ones. It was quite a goal to accomplish, but in the end, it was awesome because they all got a lot of joy and delight from seeing they had been able to do it by themselves! :) It gave me great satisfaction!
The next day, I accompanied Jen and Jessica to the train station, and after a few hugs and a couple of tears between us and their respective families, we saw them off to Lviv. And that was it. I was alone.
I walked back with Orest and we stopped at a store to buy some CDs for him and a new set of headphones for me, as mine gave out their last breath two weeks before.
And so it began... four more weeks in Ukraine without Jen and Jessica.
Jen and Jessica, if you are reading this, please know that I miss you both so much and that I hope you are having a great time back at home. I will be home soon, and we will have to get together to catch up and share stories again :) Thanks for all your support and your friendship :)
That's it for that. I will continue to tell you what happened in the almost two weeks that have gone by since Jen and Jessica left, and I will soon post a few videos and tons of pictures. Until then, Love you all, miss you all. God bless!
Concert and Gift Bags! A wonderful day!
Ok, FINALLY, here’s the story of what happened with the little ‘concert/recital’ that Jen, Jessica and I organized, as well as with the bags I was putting together for the girls :)
As you know, three Mondays ago we had our concert/recital/party at the internat. Jen and Jessica came up with the idea since the girls seemed to really like what Sarah and the girls put together last year. We had been kind of stressed about it for a while, but in the end, with the 'emergency', it ended up being a lot more relaxed, and in the end, so much more beautiful!! We had only a few guests, namely Orest, Kristina, one of the girl's mom, and David and David, two friends of ours from Jen's Calvary Chapel Church, which is composed mostly of African people. I had met 'the Davids' and the whole crew a while ago at the church picnic, which, even though took place in the middle of a downpour, was still lots of fun, especially watching all our new friends play volleyball in the pouring rain! :P So anyway (sorry, I went off on a tangent), the concert began with Bogdan playing the accordion while Luba sang. Amazingly, all the girls in the little auditorium (almost every single one of them was there) joined in song! It sounded soooooo beautiful! I was THRILLED!! It literally send shivers down my spine and the hairs on my arms stood up immediately as I head the voices of all of those girls sing their traditional songs in unison. I loved seeing that they were having so much fun!! After that, four of the younger girls, Rosa, Zureana, Nastia and Olanka, sang a song, also accompanied by Bogdan's accordion. Following, Ira sang us a couple of songs, and again, all the girls joined in and sung with her... Awesome! Jen and I took a few videos, although we have not uploaded them yet... They will come soon though!!
After all the songs were sung, the time came for a group of girls (the ones between 14 and 17) to present the dance that Sarah and Valeria had taught the girls. They danced it to the music of “Coco Jambo” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSVAUGeGnE4). It was so much fun! After that, we presented the dance that we put together this summer. We had been working on the choreography for quite some time. I got it started and the rest of the girls carried on with it and made it awesome! :P We danced it to the song “Saturday Night”, in honour of Jen who loves it lol! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI6KTW0Z-4Y) I do not yet have the videos since Jen still has them, but later on I recorded us doing it again, just for fun, and I will upload them soon! I danced with the girls just for moral support, hahaha! Our dance concluded with all of us pulling all of the girls who were sitting down to the middle to dance with us. In the middle of the dancing chaos, we started to deliver all the munchies, cookies, and the like, that we had gotten for the girls. It was great!
Once everybody settled down a bit, I brought Orest to the stage with me and I got all the girls to sit down. I made a small presentation (with Orest translating), in which I told the girls that I had a little gift for them. I thanked Jen and Jessica in front of them for having helped me put the bags together. If it had not been for them, I would have never been able to get them ready in time! So thanks again, girls! (Quick side note: For the last two weeks I had been going to the bazaar on several occasions to buy all sorts of items and preparing these bags, filling them with all kinds of hygiene supplies, necessary items such as socks and underwear –I had seen the state of such items before and was horrified– and other fun items like make up, a necklace, stickers, bubbles, etc. The whole point was to treat the girls and let them have something that they could call their own.) The delivery of the bags was very orderly at first, but by the end it got a bit chaotic, hahaha! However, all the girls got their own bag and it was sweet! They all scurried away to open their presents and so the party ended up rather abruptly but happily! Hahaha!
After the concert, I was so exhausted and I decided to go back home with Orest and Krystina. Besides, I wanted the girls to enjoy their presents as well as to give some space to Jen and Jessica, since they were staying behind and they had only two more days left at the internat. I felt such satisfaction to have been able to make the girls happy with a little gift, even if it was something very small! They have touched my heart so much, and I just wanted to leave them something that would remind them of me after I left.
After the concert, I focused mainly on preparing for my exams, which were the following Saturday.
_______
Tuesday was an interesting day. It was one of those days when reality hits you with a bat on the face when you least saw it coming. As I mentioned before, I had felt very happy to have been able to make a gift to the girls that they could call their own. Each bag had a tag with the name of each girl, and many of the items in the bag were things for personal individual care, such as a deodorant (a desperately needed item at this internat), hand cream, make up, underwear and socks. However, when I came to the internat the next morning, I did not see a single of the seventy bags that had filled the halls with colour the day before. Strange.
I figured they were probably put away in a safe place and didn’t think about it much. However, as I started to mingle with the girls, I came across one of them who really could have used a good dose of that deodorant I gave her (remember, these girls only get to bathe once a week!). So, I asked her where her deodorant was, and she was very shy about it. After much pulling and tugging, I finally got her to come with me to get her deodorant… she said she needed a key. I figured she meant the key to her classroom where her stuff was probably put away, so we went to get the caregiver who had a set of keys. I motioned her and in broken Ukrainian let her know that I was looking for the girl’s deodorant. The caregiver, who was sitting beside a few others, looked kind of reluctant and looked at the other women in the room, but finally, after much insistence from my part, got up and took me to the classroom. Once there, she pulled up a chair, climbed on it, and open a very hard to reach locked cabinet… Once she opened it, I saw a few of the bags, empty and stashed away in a pile, and a set of containers…
What they had done is they took all of the items from all of the bags, and put them in collective containers. I was not impressed. The point was that each girl would have her own personal items, but that did not fly. They had put everything in a collective pile, where everything belongs to everyone. I guess that is fine, if it makes things easier for them. But here’s the thing… All I could think in my head was “traces of communism”. There is hardly any sense of individual property in this place, and when I realized this, I felt so silly and so ignorant. I inadvertently had come in trying to impose my own Western mode of thinking onto a place that simply has not yet fully come out of a Soviet Communist worldview. When that realization hit me, I was suddenly very upset. I had spent SOOOOO much time putting these bags together for the girls, choosing many of the items specifically for particular girls, and they got to enjoy them only for a few brief moments before the bags were dismantled and all the items taken way from the girls. At that moment I wished so badly I had stayed the day before. :(
Sure, the girls still have ‘access’ to the items, but for them to get anything, even a bar of soap (which is another non-existent item in the girls’ bathrooms), they have to go get the teacher, to open a locked room, to climb on a chair, to open a locked cabinet, and hand them the item they want. For them, it is just not worth the hassle, as it was evident by this girl’s heavy reluctance to get her deodorant. The staff just don’t care! Sigh! :S The care giver tried to explain that many of the girls could not make proper use of the stuff because of their disabilities or their age, but that is something I already knew. I tried to explain that the point was for the older, more responsible girls, to help their younger sisters learn how to use the items, but there was no use…
And so, with a lot of frustration and with unsettling resignation, I took a deep breath and said to myself “It’s just the way it is, and there is nothing you can do, so just settle for knowing that at least they have the items semi-available.” Later I talked with Irena and asked her to make sure the girls had access to their stuff. She said they would. How much of that is actually going to happen, I cannot know.
In the end, the caregiver gave this particular girl one deodorant. I showed her how to use it, at which point the caregiver seemed a little embarrassed and tried to laugh it off. We assigned the deodorant to a spot that was more accessible for the girls. Because of course, that single deodorant is going to be the community deodorant for the whole class… when there are other 69 deodorant bars sitting around in a locked-up box… Great. Perfectly sanitary! :S (*head slightly fuming*) Oh well, like I said before, there is nothing I can do.
On a happier note, on Tuesday I did see a few of the girls wearing the hair clips, necklaces and nail polish I had given them, so that made me happy :) Some of them now wear their hair clips every day :P
So that was the bags… Next I will tell you about the rest of the week, which included the last day for Jen and Jessica at the internat, a final get-together with Orest, Jen and Jessica at my place, seeing the girls off to their train on their way to Lviv, and finally, the craziness of writing my two exams on Saturday after all of that! Until then, miss you all, love you all. God bless!
As you know, three Mondays ago we had our concert/recital/party at the internat. Jen and Jessica came up with the idea since the girls seemed to really like what Sarah and the girls put together last year. We had been kind of stressed about it for a while, but in the end, with the 'emergency', it ended up being a lot more relaxed, and in the end, so much more beautiful!! We had only a few guests, namely Orest, Kristina, one of the girl's mom, and David and David, two friends of ours from Jen's Calvary Chapel Church, which is composed mostly of African people. I had met 'the Davids' and the whole crew a while ago at the church picnic, which, even though took place in the middle of a downpour, was still lots of fun, especially watching all our new friends play volleyball in the pouring rain! :P So anyway (sorry, I went off on a tangent), the concert began with Bogdan playing the accordion while Luba sang. Amazingly, all the girls in the little auditorium (almost every single one of them was there) joined in song! It sounded soooooo beautiful! I was THRILLED!! It literally send shivers down my spine and the hairs on my arms stood up immediately as I head the voices of all of those girls sing their traditional songs in unison. I loved seeing that they were having so much fun!! After that, four of the younger girls, Rosa, Zureana, Nastia and Olanka, sang a song, also accompanied by Bogdan's accordion. Following, Ira sang us a couple of songs, and again, all the girls joined in and sung with her... Awesome! Jen and I took a few videos, although we have not uploaded them yet... They will come soon though!!
After all the songs were sung, the time came for a group of girls (the ones between 14 and 17) to present the dance that Sarah and Valeria had taught the girls. They danced it to the music of “Coco Jambo” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSVAUGeGnE4). It was so much fun! After that, we presented the dance that we put together this summer. We had been working on the choreography for quite some time. I got it started and the rest of the girls carried on with it and made it awesome! :P We danced it to the song “Saturday Night”, in honour of Jen who loves it lol! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI6KTW0Z-4Y) I do not yet have the videos since Jen still has them, but later on I recorded us doing it again, just for fun, and I will upload them soon! I danced with the girls just for moral support, hahaha! Our dance concluded with all of us pulling all of the girls who were sitting down to the middle to dance with us. In the middle of the dancing chaos, we started to deliver all the munchies, cookies, and the like, that we had gotten for the girls. It was great!
Once everybody settled down a bit, I brought Orest to the stage with me and I got all the girls to sit down. I made a small presentation (with Orest translating), in which I told the girls that I had a little gift for them. I thanked Jen and Jessica in front of them for having helped me put the bags together. If it had not been for them, I would have never been able to get them ready in time! So thanks again, girls! (Quick side note: For the last two weeks I had been going to the bazaar on several occasions to buy all sorts of items and preparing these bags, filling them with all kinds of hygiene supplies, necessary items such as socks and underwear –I had seen the state of such items before and was horrified– and other fun items like make up, a necklace, stickers, bubbles, etc. The whole point was to treat the girls and let them have something that they could call their own.) The delivery of the bags was very orderly at first, but by the end it got a bit chaotic, hahaha! However, all the girls got their own bag and it was sweet! They all scurried away to open their presents and so the party ended up rather abruptly but happily! Hahaha!
After the concert, I was so exhausted and I decided to go back home with Orest and Krystina. Besides, I wanted the girls to enjoy their presents as well as to give some space to Jen and Jessica, since they were staying behind and they had only two more days left at the internat. I felt such satisfaction to have been able to make the girls happy with a little gift, even if it was something very small! They have touched my heart so much, and I just wanted to leave them something that would remind them of me after I left.
After the concert, I focused mainly on preparing for my exams, which were the following Saturday.
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Tuesday was an interesting day. It was one of those days when reality hits you with a bat on the face when you least saw it coming. As I mentioned before, I had felt very happy to have been able to make a gift to the girls that they could call their own. Each bag had a tag with the name of each girl, and many of the items in the bag were things for personal individual care, such as a deodorant (a desperately needed item at this internat), hand cream, make up, underwear and socks. However, when I came to the internat the next morning, I did not see a single of the seventy bags that had filled the halls with colour the day before. Strange.
I figured they were probably put away in a safe place and didn’t think about it much. However, as I started to mingle with the girls, I came across one of them who really could have used a good dose of that deodorant I gave her (remember, these girls only get to bathe once a week!). So, I asked her where her deodorant was, and she was very shy about it. After much pulling and tugging, I finally got her to come with me to get her deodorant… she said she needed a key. I figured she meant the key to her classroom where her stuff was probably put away, so we went to get the caregiver who had a set of keys. I motioned her and in broken Ukrainian let her know that I was looking for the girl’s deodorant. The caregiver, who was sitting beside a few others, looked kind of reluctant and looked at the other women in the room, but finally, after much insistence from my part, got up and took me to the classroom. Once there, she pulled up a chair, climbed on it, and open a very hard to reach locked cabinet… Once she opened it, I saw a few of the bags, empty and stashed away in a pile, and a set of containers…
What they had done is they took all of the items from all of the bags, and put them in collective containers. I was not impressed. The point was that each girl would have her own personal items, but that did not fly. They had put everything in a collective pile, where everything belongs to everyone. I guess that is fine, if it makes things easier for them. But here’s the thing… All I could think in my head was “traces of communism”. There is hardly any sense of individual property in this place, and when I realized this, I felt so silly and so ignorant. I inadvertently had come in trying to impose my own Western mode of thinking onto a place that simply has not yet fully come out of a Soviet Communist worldview. When that realization hit me, I was suddenly very upset. I had spent SOOOOO much time putting these bags together for the girls, choosing many of the items specifically for particular girls, and they got to enjoy them only for a few brief moments before the bags were dismantled and all the items taken way from the girls. At that moment I wished so badly I had stayed the day before. :(
Sure, the girls still have ‘access’ to the items, but for them to get anything, even a bar of soap (which is another non-existent item in the girls’ bathrooms), they have to go get the teacher, to open a locked room, to climb on a chair, to open a locked cabinet, and hand them the item they want. For them, it is just not worth the hassle, as it was evident by this girl’s heavy reluctance to get her deodorant. The staff just don’t care! Sigh! :S The care giver tried to explain that many of the girls could not make proper use of the stuff because of their disabilities or their age, but that is something I already knew. I tried to explain that the point was for the older, more responsible girls, to help their younger sisters learn how to use the items, but there was no use…
And so, with a lot of frustration and with unsettling resignation, I took a deep breath and said to myself “It’s just the way it is, and there is nothing you can do, so just settle for knowing that at least they have the items semi-available.” Later I talked with Irena and asked her to make sure the girls had access to their stuff. She said they would. How much of that is actually going to happen, I cannot know.
In the end, the caregiver gave this particular girl one deodorant. I showed her how to use it, at which point the caregiver seemed a little embarrassed and tried to laugh it off. We assigned the deodorant to a spot that was more accessible for the girls. Because of course, that single deodorant is going to be the community deodorant for the whole class… when there are other 69 deodorant bars sitting around in a locked-up box… Great. Perfectly sanitary! :S (*head slightly fuming*) Oh well, like I said before, there is nothing I can do.
On a happier note, on Tuesday I did see a few of the girls wearing the hair clips, necklaces and nail polish I had given them, so that made me happy :) Some of them now wear their hair clips every day :P
So that was the bags… Next I will tell you about the rest of the week, which included the last day for Jen and Jessica at the internat, a final get-together with Orest, Jen and Jessica at my place, seeing the girls off to their train on their way to Lviv, and finally, the craziness of writing my two exams on Saturday after all of that! Until then, miss you all, love you all. God bless!
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