Late Summer Greetings and the Hodgepodge

 

The garden is full of late summer color.

 Peppers and tomato are ripening.

 

 And now for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. How do you feel about the transition from lazy summer days to a busier fall routine?

 

 It is the opposite for me. My summer is far from lazy because of my work in the garden and my flowers. Once the evenings start to creep in earlier and the north wind starts to bring cold autumn air my cozy time will start.

 

 2. Your favorite cookie? 

 

Chocolate chip!! 

 

 3. What's something you've learned from a culture different than your own? 

 

2006 I went on a missions trip to Ukraine.  I learned many things while I was there. I worked at an orphanage. One of the things that stood out to me was the pride, the pride these street kids had for Ukraine. We had a big party on our last evening at the orphanage. We did face painting. They all wanted the Ukraine flag painted on them. I ran out of blue and yellow face paint.

What I learned from a culture different than my own, pride for Ukraine starts at a very young age and runs deep. 

 

4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic...which hat would you most like to wear? Tell us why.

 

Food critic ... I love to try new recipes.

Recipes using new to me herbs, spices and more. 

YUM!  

 

 5. What's a small, random thing from your childhood that you still remember clearly? 

 

Our grandpa and grandma had a candy jar right by the door. We could take as much candy as we wanted. 

 

  6. Insert your own random thought here.  

 

She was found on the street. She was full of lice, dirty and hungry.

We poured out as much love as we could in the time we worked at the orphanage the summer of 2006. 

Every now and then I wonder how these children are doing today.  

 

 

2006

 Hello Friends,

The name of my blog is The River..

Life is like a river. There are twists and turns, quiet spots and rapids, deep pools and shallow flats.

It seems our world is going down a waterfall for the last two years and continues to be tumbling down.

It is difficult to understand. 

I caught myself getting wrapped up in the current events of the past week. I can find it hard to find a balance, I want to be informed but not have it take my joy.

I have to..

Keep Calm

and 

Carry On.

And so that brings me to 2006.

I spent two weeks working at an orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine.

The trip changed me, it helped me grow and learn about life outside the United States.

I will share some photos of my time at the orphanage in the year of 2006. 

As I read the news today, I think about those children below, who are now grown men and women. Who I was blessed to share some love with long ago in 2006.

 

Me.. painting the girls nails. 

From America, we brought, candy, lots of candy, make up, nail polish, art supplies, lots of art supplies, glow sticks, face paint, t-shirts, socks, play-dough, balloons, chalk and so much more.

 

 

We enjoyed a big party at the end our two week stay. That is me below, painting faces.. the top request.. the Ukrainian flag.

 

 

This little girl was new to the orphanage when we arrived.

 

 

The courtyard, where we played soccer "football" and did chalk art.

It amazed me, we may not be able to speak the language.. smiles and hugs make all the difference.

I just loved seeing them smile.

Ukraine will always be dear to me.

♥ ♥

Disco in Ukraine

We are getting ready for the Disco! A Disco  in Ukraine is like a party here in the States. We painted faces, dressed up, handed out glow sticks, balloons and candy!

Dasha....left on the door step of the Shelter when she was a baby.

Our team...2 adults and 8 teens from California...me from Wisconsin. Vasa...the young man in the front row...a Ukrainian who helped us, and our 2 translators, Ira and Natasha.

Me, busy painting precious faces!

Having fun with balloons!

Dustin and Lulu helping making something fun for a little girl.

More face painting...I sat in this position for over two hours!!

Natasha and Ira our translators and Dasha.

Fruit, Candy and Soda...party food.

Big Smiles! We had fun!

Ukraine continued

We took a day to treat another group of children, from the Sonshine House...an orphanage just outside of Kiev. We met the children at the train station. The train station was heavily guarded with soilders carrying big guns! We met up with the children and all were excited to meet us. We treated them to a day out. We took a boat ride, ate at McDonalds!!! (eating at McDonalds is a big thing for little kids all around the world) and went to an amusment park. 

My roommate during the missions trip...pictured above is with a little girl named Maria. I am below with Elia and Vassa. We went boating. It as a little scary for me, because when we started out Vassa was rowing, he is the older boy in the photo. But he began to panic about the water. He did not like being out on the water, he tried to get out. He was rocking the boat. Note we do not have life jackets on. Seat belts, life jackets and many other things are not used in Ukraine, like they are in the United States. I had to calm him down and switch places with him, with out flipping the boat. With the help of Elia, we did it. Elia became my buddy for the day. He reminded me of my little boys back at home. Of course that made me cry. But I was so happy to give him love and attention. He loved maps. When I got back, I mailed him a package with several maps enclosed. I marked the Wisconsin map for him of where I lived.

Our group and the kids from the Sonshine House.

Ukraine continued

We were able to treat the kids to an outing. One of the outings was camping. We took them camping on an island. Yes, the tents you see are the tents we slept in. 

Having fun. 

Looking back at the city of Kiev from the island

Soccer! The favorite game!! They played in the tall grass.

Me, having a little talk, with Maria. We played ball together and laughed at each other. It was fun. We could not understand each other, but both had a great time.

My roommate Erica, painting nails. We brought fun stuff to do with the girls. They loved it. It would have been great to know Russian. I only know a little. Enough to find out what your name is. Let you know what my name is and a little more. But activities like this was enjoyed by all of us. A smile goes along way and just giving your attention.

Ukraine

The Isolator Kids...and how do you break the ice? If you have read my past Ukraine posts, I explained the Isolator Kids are the kids right off the street. Shaved heads...lice check...wild...due to street life. So how do you break the ice? I brought sidewalk chalk. It did not matter if the kids were 4 or 16 they were interested in it. Stickers as well, some had never seen such things. Slowly they started to come and look us over. It was a little scary, especially when one tried to steal my camera out of my back pocket. You learned to say NO aggressively to the Isolator Kids. You had to or they knew they could intimidate you. As time went on, they wanted to talk. I only know a bit of Russian. We had one translator...she did her best getting around to us to help us carry on conversations.

Of course a soccer ball helps. Soccer is Football in Ukraine...and they are good! They all wanted to see if they could beat the American Boys! They did...our boys did a great job. I was so proud of the group of California Teens I went with.

Dasha, our little girl we loved so much. She took the longest to break the ice. She wanted everything we had, but was scared of us at first. Of course a little girl like this breaks your heart when you have to leave to go home. She is looking at you with tears in her eyes. I just prayed she had a great two weeks while we were there, and that we planted a seed.

American Games...we brought as many as we could. We took them out of the box and even tore some of them apart and re-built them once we got to the shelter. We brought so many items for the kids. So you will see me wearing the same shirt in many photos. :-) We brought supplies for them and a few clothes for us.

A bible story and song. I love the smiles! The young lady in the pink shorts with the dark sandals was our translator, Natasha. She was very will with cancer...she was one of the young children caught up in the fallout.

Crafts! The big hit. The kids loved doing crafts. It was so much fun for us to do them. Even the wildest kids would settle down to do a craft. It was great. On our last day, the kids began to give us the creations they made, as gifts to us, to say Thank You. I took a few, but wanted them to keep them. Tears streaming down our faces and we hugged good bye.

More to come...stay tuned.

Leaving on a Jet Plane....Kiev, Ukraine

I was told, you have to carry what you pack. I would not have a husband or extra time to get my bags from here to there! I packed a big suitcase. I put some of my items for the children in the suitcase and some of it in my carry on. Just in case...yes two members of our team had their luggage lost! They had one change of clothing in their carry on. We were in Kiev for two weeks. They had one change of clothes! Their luggage arrived two days before we started back to the States! Thankfully, several of the other guys on the team gave them stuff to wear. We did not have laundry facilities.
The cool backpack, was my son Sam's. He still thinks it is cool is backpack went to London, England and Kiev, Ukraine.
I packed simple outfits, bedding and a travel pillow. Some art supplies, sidewalk chalk, candy, prizes for the kids and some snacks. We were told to bring some snacks...I brought nuts, dried fruit and granola bars. I did not know I needed to bring a water bottle. Once settled in our quarters at the Shelter,  I had to boil some water and sanitize someones plastic Coke bottle. I was so afraid, because we were warned over and over not to drink the water out of the tap. I boiled the water and poured into the bottle. (we had an electric hot water pot, for making tea in our quarters at the Shelter) Of course the heat started to melt the bottle. I quickly poured it out. My bottle was disfigured, but everyone knew it was mine!

Jeremy seeing me off. Our Pastor drove us to the Airport together. It was not easy for me to say goodbye. It was not easy for Jeremy to let me go. He would not hear from me for over a week!

More to come...stay tuned.

History Lesson part 2 - Ukraine

I wanted to give you a few more facts before I start to show my photos and explain my missions trip. Ukraine broke away from Russia  in 1991. On July 16, 1991 Ukraine declared independence from the former Soviet Union. A new country, starting out on its own. The current currency is called hryvnia (pronounced grivna).
If you keep up with current events world wide you will know that the fight for freedom is daily. The Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned. Who did it? You have to come to your own conclusion on that. Lets just say, he is for FREEDOM!

Corruption! Poverty! Hopelessness!

It is estimated that in Kiev alone there are over 25,000 homeless children. Thousands of children from 3 years old up through their teens live under buildings, they are old bomb shelters from the war. The children are brought to the Government Shelter (where I worked) by the police. They are wild. The shelter is made up of two parts. For the wild kids, fresh off the streets, it is called the Isolator. The other area, for tame kids,  is called the Shelter. I worked in both areas and will share many stories and photos.

The kids in the Isolator do try to run away. So the area they are in, looks like a jail. They feel just like an caged animal. Many do not know how to eat with a fork, spoon or knife. They do not know anything about manners or even the simple things of living. Some do escape, back to the streets. Others begin to let their guard down, and start to feel!

This was one of the hardest parts for me. After two weeks of crafts, skits, stories and special outings...we pack up and leave. Back to the United States. I prayed to God, to be sure they knew we loved them and so did Jesus. Our last night we had a party, they called it a DISCO. We gave out candy, glow sticks, balloons and ice cream cones. As I hugged them goodbye I remind them I loved them and to remember, Jesus Loved them. I would point to the heart and tell them to keep Jesus!

More to come...from this missions trip that changed me!

History of Ukraine - part 1

I will post a few You Tubes to watch, to let you learn some of the history of Ukraine. Communism, the desire to be free, WWII,  poverty, government corruption, and  Chernobyl are just a few things to consider to understand the Ukrainian people. 

The kids we worked with had several abnormalities. Crossed eyes, funny ears, mouths or simply slow. Our translator, Natasha has thyroid cancer. She explained to me how her family stayed after Chernobyl. She lived in Kiev, they had no idea how dangerous it was,  she was seven. She was very ill, she had to rest often during our time with her. She loved helping us and learning all she could to be American. She asked me " Why do you have brown hair? Don't you want blond hair, like Hollywood?"  Her dream was to live in California, United States of America!  She had no idea where Wisconsin was. I had taken pictures of my family, and a map of the United States. She could not believe we had snow! (I had a photo of my little boys by a snowman) She begged me to keep in touch...I tried...I received one letter back from her. When I first came back I wrote often, now I send a Christmas card. 


Her dream is what I think of the most...to live in California, United States of America. If I could have gotten her to the United States...I would not have let her live in California. :-) 
She had brown hair...I told her to be proud of it...she asked me several times if she should dye it, to be more American. 
Eye opening! More to come!

Five years ago today...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ukraine.jpg

Five years ago today, I ventured out on my own to California, to meet a team of people I did not know, to travel to Ukraine for a missions trip. My boys were little! Sam just turned six and Atticus turned four! I only knew our Pastor's son Jeff,  a little bit. I met him once. (he was leading the missions trip). I had many obstacles to overcome. Fear! Missing my kids and husband! Being the only Wisconsinite in the bunch, the rest of the team was made up of California teens, and two other adults. 

 

God had planted a seed. I have always been fascinated with the country Ukraine. I studied the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. I felt pain for the people as they continued to fight for freedom. 

 

Stepping back in time, eight years ago, my Pastor's wife was telling me about Jeff''s work in Ukraine. A fire burned in me, I shared with her how I have always wanted to go and help the kids. She said, "you just might be able, I will call Jeff and find out."

 

Five years ago today, I was flying to London, England. 

I will be blogging about this adventure, that changed my life. I will share some facts that may surprise you. Share some photos that will break your heart. As I type my story, tears will be streaming down my cheeks. 

I am thankful to God for letting me be able to go. I am also thankful to live in the United States of America! I was in Ukraine over the Fourth of July 2006...in a country were communism is still very much alive. In a country that has such corruption, Jeff told us not to bother to exchange address, you will never hear from them again. (I did exchange address with both of our translators, I wrote several times, I received one letter from each, and never heard from them again. They too, warned me, they may never get my mail!)  In a country, where most of the time they said to me, " We were taught that Americans did not care, they were not compassionate! You are so kind, you bring so much for us. Thank You, Thank You! We did not know Americans were compassionate."