Wayne and I traveled to the Ukraine to visit Veronica, her family, and the children of the Sun Orphanage on April 3, 2000. Veronika and her mother, Ludmilla, works at the Sun Orphanage, a state-run orphanage for children 3 to 7 years of age. We started writing Veronika after our church's "Operation Christmas Child boxes were delivered there in 1997, and she wrote Tony & Pat Woodall (members of our congregation). The Ukraine has experienced hard economic times after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The orphanage provides loving care and an excellent staff, but money is very short. Over the last two years Wayne and I have corresponded with Veronika, we heard the staff went through an 8-month period where they did not get paid. They all stayed on the job but the children were fed. At that time Veronika, her brother Sergey, their grandmother and Ludmilla survived on the grandmother's pension of $15 a month! Ludmilla's normal pay is $25 a month which is still not enough to live on. After hearing all this and receiving pictures of the children, Wayne and I knew we had to go. I asked Veronika what the orphanage needed most and she said "medicines". I informed our church in early March 2000 of our mission. They responded generously with enough medicines to fill an old "hard-bodied" Samsonite suitcase; enough clothes to fill an "international-sized" suitcase and enough toys to fill a third oversized suitcase. Monetary donations totaled $1700!!
Wayne and I purchased our own tickets and left Atlanta on the evening of April 3, flying overnight to change planes in Zurich, Switzerland the morning of the 4th. We landed in Kiev that afternoon. Veronika's Uncle Yuri drove the only car in the family and the orphanage sent its old battered van for the luggage destined for the orphanage. There is not enough room on this web server nor enough time to write all our experiences. The doctor (a woman) was most thrilled with the medicines. The kids were thrilled with the toys. We gave the clothes we brought to the director to hand out to older children and we went shopping at the open market. We bought new clothes and shoes for every child. We bought new pajamas and underwear. We bought school supplies. The director, a wonderful woman named Lydia, told me "the children get candy, what they need is fresh fruit" - we bought a case of bananas and a crate of oranges. One of the days was a religious holiday and the children put on a musical for us. They sang and danced. It's all on the video. We had a truly blessed time and felt we were totally in God's care the whole time (testified by the miracles in Zurich on the way home). Below are some links to a few pictures. There is also a copy of our video you may check out from Geri Harker, our church secretary.
We brought home two goals.
1) We would like to see our support of the orphanage, particularly Ludmilla's group continue. All consumable goods are in short supply; toothpaste, soap, paper, pencils, medicines, clothes. The children are fed enough food but it is mostly starches (potatoes, rice, dumplings, etc). Many of them have tooth decay. I've asked Veronika if she will buy fruits, toothpaste with fluoride and children's vitamins. I hope to send $100 a month to her for this purpose. To support this effort, write "Ukraine orphanage" on your check made out to the Byron United Methodist Church..
2) We'd like to bring Veronika to the U.S. for a 3 or 4 week visit to fulfill her "big dream". If she had not been studious and serious about learning English, she could never have written us and we never would have gone there. This one's fulfilled. Veronika arrived on September 21 and left the day after Thanksgiving. We have been showing her as much as we can and our church family has jumped right in to help make her feel welcome.
Wayne and Janis Baldwin
Pictures:
The kids at their desks
The kids in a group
Alina in her new dress
Yuri in his new suit
Veronika in the new coat we bought her
