April Update On Troubles In Ukraine
Please note that I am no expert on the current situation in Ukraine, and any information I give is based on feedback from friends and some of the websites/forums that I follow.
There is no doubt though that the current situation in Ukraine is worrying, and I am pretty sure that the economical situation is going to stretch the funds of Dnipro Kids to the limit in the coming year. It seems inevitable that there will be cutbacks and funding removed at the orphanages and foster homes where our sponsored children are looked after.
We have already had to cancel the planned trip to Crimea for the foster home kids, because of the invasion of Crimea by the Russian troops. As soon as we knew this would be the case we started looking at a trip to the Water Park, and other interesting sites, close to the city of Kharkiv. This trip, unfortunately, has also had to be shelved because of the infiltration of the area by pro-Russian activists and the storming of various government buildings. At the moment there are reports of military action in the area, as the Ukrainian forces try to remove activists from Sloviansk, Karkiv, Donetsk and other towns in the area.
Ira has suggested a one day trip to the Poltova region (away from the current troubles) where there is an Aviation Museum and a Craftsmen Village, where the kids will get the chance for some hands-on craft making. Hopefully the next update will have lots of photos of the kids enjoying a great day out there despite the troubles.
As Dnipropetrovsk is on the edge of the eastern part of Ukraine it is a worry that an escalation of troubles could have a direct affect on the city, and the assistance that we provide. I’m sure you get the picture of how difficult a task we face at the moment, but the last thing that we want to happen is that children miss out on trips because of the troubles. To that end we will be trying our hardest to provide fun, and safe, trips for the kids.
Your financial support will go a long way to helping us to achieve our aims.
We have a PayPal link set up on the website for anyone wishing to help out with a direct donation to the charity.
dniprokids.com/donate-today
Although the main trip for the kids is still to be confirmed, there are still lots of other things that we are helping out with at the moment. Please read on to see some of the events we have funded.
International Woman’s Day at Topolinaya Orphanage
Woman’s Day is quite a big event in Ukraine, and it’s a day of pampering, gifts and surprises for the girls as well as the women. Days like these are always celebrated in orphanages and there is quite often a lot of planning goes in to them. Ira and Irina were invited along to the Topolinaya orphanage to join in the celebrations.
The days events were started with a speech from Assistant Director Valentina, who was quick to point out that 95% of the staff were women so it was to be a special day for the staff and the girls. All of the boys were dressed up in their Sunday best, as is the normal procedure for this celebration.
First up we had Sergei, Roma and Pavel reciting some poetry about “charming ladies”, just to get everyone into the spirit of the celebration. This was then followed by Olga, in her traditional Ukrainian outfit, singing a traditional Ukrainian song.
Then it was back with the boys for an old style folk song. A song about a time when boys stopped looking at girls because they kept getting their hearts broken, but soon discovered that they couldn’t keep it up as it was the women that made them happy, strong and brave and they had to pick them up in their arms and love them.
Next up were the teachers singing and dancing for the kids, which the kids liked a lot and joined in with clapping and a hearty round of applause.
Ira was then given the floor which she used to give a huge thank you for the invitation to the celebrations. Ira thanked all of the staff for their help on recent Dnipro Kids events and gave a brief update on the upcoming planned events. She then handed out chocolates to all the kids and also some nice light tights for the girls for the warmer weather.
Afterwards it was back to the performance, and next up were a dance tutor, and two of her dancers from the dance club, that had also been at the orphanage teaching dance. It was a very energetic gypsy style dance and the kids and teachers were very impressed and applauded loudly.
To finish off the performances two of the teachers sang songs they had rehearsed with the boys. The teachers would sing the verses and the boys had to do the chorus in their deepest possible voices. It was very well done and the chorus had everyone in fits of laughter.
All the kids said a huge thank you to Ira and Dnipro Kids for their gifts.
Birthday Trip
In March we had the spring birthday trip for the Topolinaya orphanage, with 14 kids all out celebrating their birthdays. Ira had to ask the children what they wanted for their birthdays well in advance, because the troubles in Ukraine are having a huge affect on deliveries of goods and a lot of the shops are very low on stock. Ira tells us that it took her almost 3 weeks to finally get all the gifts that the children had asked for. The choice of activity for the kids was to go bowling, so on the day of the trip Ira organised transport to get them from the orphanage to the City Most Centre where there is a small bowling alley.
Once they’d finished bowling they headed for the food court area where Ira, with the help of Vova, Roma and Zhenya (formely from the Tabachnaya orphanage), organised meals for everyone.
Once they’d finished eating Ira started handing out the birthday gifts that they’d asked for. Little Artur Luzhetski had asked for a remote controlled racing car.
Maxim Neverin wanted an MP3 player.
Sergei Ovcharenko asked for a mobile phone.
Film fanatic Yaroslav Polishuk wanted a DVD player.
Zhenya Prohorenko wanted a pair of trainers.
Roma Choorsin had asked for a set of extension speakers to go with his MP3 player.
Basketball player Vasya Gorodetski wanted a professional style vest and shorts, for when he was playing.
Sergei Grigorchuk wanted an MP3 player.
Oleg Iovlev wanted an Adidas hoodie, to keep up his “street cred”.
Roma Tkachuk had asked for an MP3 player, but Ira thinks he was jealous of little Arturs remote controlled car!
Vova Fomin wanted a pair of “Airmax”.
Zhenya Dolgey (who hates getting his photo taken) didn’t want to be out-done by his good friend Vova so he also asked for a pair of “Airmax”.
Artur Bondarenko asked for an MP3 player.
And finally the only girl on the birthday trip, Olga Boot, wanted an MP3 player with earphones.
All the kids said a huge thank you to Ira, and Dnipro Kids, for their birthday presents and for a great day out.
Child Sponsorship
If you are not already a Child Sponsor please consider direct sponsorship of one of the children that we support in Dnipropetrovsk. Your monthly contributions will assist in providing birthday, Christmas and summer trips for these kids as well as helping to support the many other projects that we fund for the children.
As you can see from the previous story, you have the ability to follow the fortunes of your sponsored child, with regular updates and photos.
For details about Child Sponsorship please email me directly steven@dniprokids.com
Visit the Facebook page and add Dnipro Kids to your friends list. http://www.facebook.com/dnipro.kids
Yours,
Steven Carr,
Dnipro Appeal Committee.
