Ukraine Notes

We are experiencing some connectivity issues today so we'll see how far I get.

Mar 1
The road to Kherson
After eating breakfast in Odessa we boarded our transportation for the week and headed out for Kherson. Our driver this week is Ura. Along the way we came upon a mile or more convoy of trucks parked along side the road. We learned later they were parked there in protest of the rising fuel costs and the previous weeks protest was in the capital city Kiev and there they blocked traffic.
During the bus ride we gathered in our small groups. In my group Bill and Adelle have been many times to Ukraine and for Marilyn this is her first time. This is my 2nd trip to Ukraine and my 4th trip with Gain. We arrived in Kherson to the Frigat Hotel, overlooking the Dnieper River. We stashed our stuff in our rooms and then after lunch met our interpreters for the time in Kherson. Olga, Natasha, Alla and Sergi. Our bus guide, Irina and our ministry partner representative from House of Hope, Natasha joined us the following morning.

First I will pass on my bit of understanding and I may be not completely accurate, but the general idea is this – the following are all orphanages, but for different ages: Baby House 0-3 years, Kindergarten 4-6 years and Boarding House 7-16 years. The children live, eat etc and attend classes all on one site. Some are orphaned due to having no living parents, some have been removed from parental custody and some have been abandoned or custody voluntarily relinquished.
Although the sites have been pre-arranged for our visits and delivery of aid, things are ALWAYS subject to change, thus the theme word for all of the trips is “Flex”. We have a general plan of how we would like to interact with the children, but some site directors have their own ideas and we do whatever we can with the circumstances we encounter when we arrive. And unfortunately, sometimes we are not allowed to come, even after all the preparations – and thus too the reasons vary.