Kyrgyzstan Fun Day

Wow the summer has just flown by and my time in Ukraine is winding down for now. In one week I'll be headed back to Canada.

Before I left Canada in the spring I was able to send some money to Loads of Love to help our friend Sergey in Kyrgyzstan take the kids from Orlovka Orphanage on an outing to Lake Issyk'Kul.

For those who are unfamiliar, Lake Issyk'Kul is the world's 2nd largest salt water lake and has some of the nicest beaches anywhere. Just like going to the sea to relax is a big deal in Ukraine so it is in Kyrgyzstan as well and kids in an orphanage just don't get there without the kindness of others.

The outing took place this past week. As Sergey mentioned it provided a day to relax and a boost of energy to the kids for the upcoming school year. It also provided a relaxing day for the hard working orphanage workers who deserve a break. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Thank you to those who helped make this possible. Everyone will remember this for a long time.

Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. я люблю вас!

Another Month Gone By

It's hard to believe that a second month has flown by already for this trip. Pretty soon it'll be time to get ready to go back to Canada, but I don't want to think about that just yet.

This past month I've continued to be busy. I paid another visit to the Boorie Ooglie home taking some treats for the residents and attending another service there. I can't believe how much better the general atmosphere is at the home with the corrupt staff gone. I can see a new brightness in the faces of the residents as well as the current staff.

For the rest of the month I tagged along with some of the Loads of Love team visiting public schools. The team has a network that now includes 21 schools that they visit regularly during the school year doing various activities to spend quality time with the kids. The team's presence in the schools is an encouragement to the students, teachers and school staff alike. My role was to practice English with the kids through games and conversation or just spending time with them. I have some photos of some of our visits below.

In my last blog entry I mentioned about buying an apartment here in Kryvyi Rih. The apartment I've been staying in is still available. As I mentioned last time real estate prices here are at an all time low and this would be a great opportunity for my work here. Having a permanent place would be a big help with costs and logistics and I could finally look into coming to Ukraine long term. It would make a lot so much easier. I can put together enough for half of the price but I have a ways to go to make it happen. Would you like to partner with me in this work?

If you would like to have more information or to partner with me please message me directly. You can reach me by email using the contact form on the right side of the blog or at blairslife1@gmail.com. Those of you on Facebook can also reach me on Messenger. Thank you so much.

Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for seeing my heart...я люблю вас!! Happy Canada Day!

Dina helping me to buy bananas and candy for Boorie Ooglie...

...and then helping to pass it out.

Singing songs with the school kids.

More songs at another school.

The blind object game where they wear a blindfold and gloves, pick an item out of the bag and then tell everyone what it is in English.

While the person is blindfolded...a teacher in this case...we do silly things with them to get a laugh from the other kids like take a selfie.

A puppet show at a school.  This story was about pride.

Tanya sharing a story at a school.

Sometimes the candy bag comes out.

In this game we were all tied together as a group while the teacher told a story.  (I didn't catch the translation.)  Then after the story the ribbon was cut up into bracelets.

It's Been a Month Already

I've been in Ukraine a month already and this is the 1st chance I've had to do an update. I arrived in Kryvyi Rih on May 2nd and hit the ground running. I met with Loads of Love's country director Ira the day I arrived to plan the summer. It's been busy so far and it'll continue to be busy for the rest of my time here on this trip.

So far I've spoken at 2 village churches and I've attended a service at the new Boorie Ooglie (Brown Coals) church. To remind you, Boorie Ooglie is a home for mentally and physically disabled men. Last year the corrupt director was ousted and replaced. The new director got rid of the rest of the corrupt staff and allowed a church to be established on the property. I've really noticed a huge change in the atmosphere there. I even noticed there was meat in the meals now. The service was amazing and it was great to reconnect with the guys. Now if the new director would just get rid of that cage...don't get me started on that one. I might not stop.

I also went to one of the public schools that Loads of Love visits regularly. I helped out with English in one class and in the History class they were studying Canadian history. They really know their stuff, lots of which I had forgotten about our history. I spoke a little bit about relations between Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada.

After that I was taken to the remote village of Krasnivka for several days. Loads of Love has established a camp there for the disabled and any others that don't have the opportunity to go to camp. We were painting and cleaning the camp and getting things set up for a new season. The day I left the 1st guests of the season arrived.

These last couple of weeks involved preparations for the camps that are sponsored through Loads of love. The theme this year is "Mission Possible." We made some videos for lessons, and did a LOT of cutting and gluing to get the crafts ready. Our 1st camp of the season started May 27th at the Sophia School in Kyiv for about 70 to 80 kids. My role was to help with beginner English classes and activities for them.

That's the nutshell version of my activities in Ukraine so far. Stay tuned for more things over the next couple of months. Those of you on my Facebook list will probably have already seen my photos. I'm posting a sample of them below.

On a separate note, this is something I want to throw out there to see if there will be any interest. As most of you know since I started this work in 2011 I have always wanted to come to Ukraine to do this work full time. My life in Canada is that classic exhausting North American rat race where I literally don't have the time to do much fundraising. I don't have a large Canadian salary and I don't receive a salary or stipend for what I do in Ukraine.

I would like to pause here to say thank you to all of you who have generously given resources over the years for what I have been able to do so far. You have been a huge blessing to many.

So, the apartment where I have been staying in Kryvyi Rih is for sale at an amazing price in Canadian dollars. Real estate here is at an all time low now as many people have gone to Poland to find work. As amazing as the price is I just don't have it. It would help my work here a lot if I had a permanent place. Then I could look further to making that step to move back to Ukraine long term.

If you would like to have more information or to help me out with this please send me a private message. You can reach me by email using the form on the right side of the blog. Those of you on Facebook can also reach me on Messenger. Thank you so much.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for seeing my heart...я люблю вас!!

This is Ira & I planning out the summer.

At one of the village churches.

Before the service at Boorie Ooglie I had time to take my candy bag to the hospital section.

The church at Boorie Ooglie.  As many times I've been here over the years I didn't know this room even existed.

Talking to the history class about relations between Ukraine and the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada.

A before and after of the fence at Krasnivka.

Taking a break on our video shoot.  I bought a cheap tent to use for accommodation at one of the village camps in July.  It made a great prop for the video and a decoration for the 1st camp.

Arriving in Kyiv to do the 1st camp.  All of this and 8 people managed to fit into 2 small train compartments.

The 1st camp at Sophia School.

Another Year Done

As we come to the end of 2018 I look back over the year and think that it went by so fast. It was an amazing year but I won't go into an analysis. I'll leave that for the previous blog entries. The biggest highlight for me other than being in Ukraine for an amazing summer is that I was thrilled to welcome some of my Ukrainian friends to show off my city Halifax not once but twice.

Some of you may remember last summer the trouble I had in getting my tax refund back which I wanted to use for some projects while I was in Ukraine. It turned out that Canada Revenue selected me for a review and the exact day I returned to Halifax they finally notified me that my return was processed. One of the projects I wanted to do was to send the kids in Orlovka Orphanage in Kyrgyzstan to the beach. As you remember from previous blog entries going to the beach is a huge deal for the kids there. Unfortunately I missed the beach season but sent the money anyways telling my friend Sergey to use it as he saw fit.

Today Sergey sent me some photos and told me that they purchased shoes for the kids in Orlovka and were also able to provide some Christmas presents to kids in the Karakol orphanage. I'll let some photos speak for themselves.

In the new year I'll be looking into getting a ticket to Ukraine for next summer. I can hardly wait! If you're thinking of year end giving and would like to help out with some projects you can click the "donate now" button at the side of the blog page to give on line. You can also click the "ways to donate" tab at the top of the page for other giving options. Every dollar will be appreciated by so many. Thanks so much.

Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for seeing my heart...я люблю вас!! Happy new year! с новым годом!

 

In April Liosha, Anya and Dima picked me up at work and for the 1st time I welcomed friends from Ukraine to Halifax.

Then I got to do it again with Sasha in October.  Pier 21 is Canada's version of the American Ellis Island where immigrants arrived by ship to start new lives.  Almost 128 years ago the 1st Ukrainians immigrating to Canada arrived here.  Sasha also arrived here by ship.  (He works for a cruise line.)

Christmas presents for the kids at Karakol Orphanage.  Sergey is the one kneeling.

Winding Down

Wow I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update. This summer has flown by fast. A few of us did another banana delivery to Boorie Ooglie and we've been pretty busy with the Loads of Love camps having done camps in the Social Dorms, the Rehab Centre and the village of Green Field. I'll let some of the photos speak for themselves.

As things are winding down for me this summer it's hard to believe that I'll be back in Canada in just a week. This coming week we'll be doing another camp at an orphanage in the Ingulets region of Kryvyi Rih. Then it'll be a rush to the train station to Kyiv for my flight to Canada next Sunday.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for seeing my heart...я люблю вас!!

Every morning at the Social Dorms the kids were VERY anxious to get started.

The Social Dorms

Rehab Centre camp.  In this game the kids lined up.  The 1st person was told what to "draw" on the person's back in front of them.  Then each one in the line would draw the picture on the next person's back without saying anything.  The last person would then draw it on paper.  The closest to the "original" won.

Rehab Centre

Rehab Centre...Through the week kids would earn "likes" for being kind and helpful, remembering Bible stories, winning competitions, etc.  Then on the last day the likes were currency to spend in a market stocked with treats and practical items.

Green Field camp

Green Field

Green Field

It's Camp Season

Camp season is in full swing here. It's the time of year between the end of the school year and when the kids go away to summer camp. These camps in between would be more in the format of DVBS in Canada. So these last couple of weeks I've been busy going into some public schools with Tanya B. to spend quality time with the kids and to help out with English conversation. Then last week I went with Lena T. and some of the Loads of Love team to Kyiv to do a camp at a large school there.

The last day we were in Kyiv before catching the train back to Kryvyi Rih we went to see the estate that was built by Victor Yanukovich's corruption. It now belongs to the people of Ukraine and is kept up as a public park and a museum to corruption. It's 40 hectares and VERY opulent. I've read articles and have seen many pictures of this place but I had no idea of the expanse of it and how opulent it actually is. It boggles my mind how much money would have been spent on it all. I also wonder how many social programs that amount of money could have supported. But fortunately now it's contributing to the local economy providing some jobs and income.

This week is a quiet week as the school camps are over and I have no jobs lined up. (I'm still waiting for Canada Revenue to process my tax return so I can sponsor some activities.) Although it's a good chance to get caught up and to rest up for camp at the social dorms next week.

So that's my latest goings on. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for seeing my heart. Till next time...я люблю вас!!

A game of ping pong at school #34

Going for a walk in the park at school #34

With school #14 at a play centre

The blindfold game at school #51

English word games at school #51

Yura showed me a new phone app for voice translation that's so much better than Google Translate.  It helps a LOT with the kids.

At Sofia School in Kyiv

At the estate built by corruption.  These gates reminded me of Buckingham Palace.

At 40 hectares the park was so big we didn't have time to go see inside the house except for a peek through the front door.

 A pretty fancy back yard.

This is a fake ship (it's on a permanent foundation) that was built to host meetings.