There have been a lot of events in Ukraine over the last couple of months. The main event was our Dnipro Kids Annual Trip, which was to Odessa in the South of Ukraine on the Black Sea.
Because there was so much done during the trip we will be putting each day of the trip out on individual updates over the next few days. The details of the rest of the events over the last two months are in this update.
New Arrival at Hasanskaya Orphanage
The Hasanskaya orphanage has taken in a new girl, six year old Sonya. Sadly Sonya’s mother was a drug addict and Sonya has not had much of a life so far. She was also born premature, and at birth weighed less than 3lbs! She spent the first 3 months of her life in the hopsital fighting for life, and has spent the rest of her life in various care homes and orphanages. Because of health problems nobody, up until now, was willing to take her from the orphanages.
Caring parents Ludmilla and Yuri, mother and father of the Hasanskaya orphanage, have seen something special in her though and have taken her into their home.
Birthday Trip to Ice Skating
For the autumn birthday trip the kids wanted to go ice skating, so we organised a trip to the Karavan Ice Rink.
The kids always have a great time on the ice, but everyone is always worried for falls and injuries. Thankfully this trip was incident free.
After the ice skating we took the kids for pizza and dessert at the nearby Mafia Pizza Restaurant.
Once all the pizzas had been demolished we gave the kids their birthday gifts.
Angelina had asked for a travel case, and was over the moon with the one she received. She wasn’t expecting the small gifts inside the case, and it was great to see her face light up even more when she opened it up.
Artem asked for a mobile phone, well what teenager would be without one these days, and Svyatoslav asked for a desk lamp so he could read his books in the evenings
Danil and Rostislav asked for remote controlled cars, and little Diana asked for a new doll.
Luba asked for a cool pair of shoes.
Bogdan asked for a watch and a toy car.
Everyone said a huge thank you to Dnipro Kids for the birthday trip and their birthday gifts.
Bike Donation from supporter Garry Harrity
After the last update, and specifically the update about the surprise visit with a new bike to the Shevchenko orphanage, we were contacted by Hibs supporter Garry Harrity asking if he could purchase another bike for the orphanages.
We were of course delighted with this generous offer and contacted Natalie in Ukraine to organise it. Natalie suggested that the Puzir orphanage could benefit from an additional bike, as the kids live so far away from their school. The older kids ride the bike, and one or two smaller ones will hitch a lift (apparently a common way for kids in Dnipro to get to school).
With some assistance from Dnipro based supporter of the Dnipro Kids charity, Misha Ivanov, the bike was purchased. Misha also offered to deliver the bike for us, and just like the last time it was kept as a surprise.
Under the pretence of a group photo at the front of the house we managed to get all the kids together (not always an easy task with so many children in a large house). Misha then strolled into the driveway .. bringing with him a shiny new bike.
After an initial reluctance to go too near the bike the penny soon dropped that it was theirs to keep, and it wasn’t long before it was getting ridden up and down the street .
All at the kids at the Puzir orphanage wanted to say a huge thank you to Garry for gifting them a new bike, and gave Steven huge hugs to pass on.
Children of War Event
After the success of the Children of War visit to Edinburgh last year the Dnipro Kids charity continues to provide some support for the River of Life organisation in Dnipro. During October the charity helped to fund a day trip to the Cossack Island at Zaporizhia for the children affected by the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine.
Zaporizhia is only about an hour’s drive away from Dnipro, so a bus was booked for the trip.
The morning was spent at the Cossack display arena on the south side of Cossack Island. They provide free horse rides for the children before the main event starts, and there is also archery and crafts at various stalls around the arena.
There is a nice big seating area for the main show .. Cossack skills on horseback.
In the afternoon we moved up to the other side opposite the island to visit the open air Cossack Mueum. The museum is an excellent recreation of a Cossack village, with some stunning views of the Dnepr river and the impressive Zaporizhia Dam.
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Many thanks.
Steven Carr.