Curt post on Uglegorsk

This was a very memorable day.  Pulling up to the orphanage, the first thing you notice is the decayed state of the buidlings, roads grounds etc.  However, when you take a closer look, you can see how hard the staff at the orphanage takes to make it as warm and hospitable as they can with the resources at their disposal.  The stucco and bricks are crumbling, the wooden floors are worn and cracked, and the light fixtures and plumbing are very old.  However, everything is very neatly kept.  The floors are painted to improve their appearance.  The walls are neatly painted with bright colors to make the rooms seem more cheerful.  There are paintings on the walls of the dining hall and in some of the hallways to make them more interesting to the children.

The children are out of school now for the Summer and are excited about heading to their Summer Camp tomorrow at 6:00 am.  We spent most of the day with the younger class.  All of the children in that class are under 12 years old, and they are all boys.  The girls that had been in this class have mostly all been adopted in the past year.  We started off the morning meeting the Director and Deputy Director of the facility as well as the Social Worker.  They were all very welcoming and very gracious in letting us spend the entire day with the children.  Two brothers, Ilya and Svyatik, were given the task of being our guides for the day.  They were very eager to do so.  They quickly grabbed us by the hand and led us to a room that serves as an auditorium of sorts for the orphanage.  We then got to meet all of the children in their class.  We started with introductions and then broke out some games we brought with us:  Uno (big time staple at the orphanage…..but you must play by the house rules), jigsaw puzzles and a matching game.  The boys went through the puzzle in short order.  Svyatik and Dima took the lead quickly putting together large sections on their own.

After some game playing, the kids were off to breakfast, and we were off for a tour of the facilities.   The classrooms are all very neat.  There were several focusing on various kinds of arts and crafts, and another room for all other studies, such as math, nature, history, language etc.  In addition to their classes, the children receive 3 hours a week of physical education and probably 20 plus hours per week learning ‘trades’.  The girls are taught how to sew, and the boys are how to do various tasks around the building.   All of the wallpaper in the rooms was hung by the children, and I must say it was nicely done (doubt I could have done as well).  It makes sense that so much of their education focuses on such skills, since orphans that graduate at the age of 16 are then sent to trade school to be plumbers, carpenters, tailors etc.

After breakfast, the crew returned for a little ‘party’ of apple juice and bananas, which we brought for the occasion.  Wanting to make the party unique, we brought a 5 pound tub of peanut butter all the way from Portales, New Mexico and served it on bread.  The Staff also was eager to try the best peanut butter in the world, so we scooped a large coffee mug full for them.   Needless to say, it was a huge hit.  Most of the children this age were smiling and eager to talk to us.  Some were more shy than others.  Our guides, Ilya and Svyatik, were certainly not shy.  They had no shortage of hugs for all of our family and very quickly took to calling Jocelyn and I Mama and Papi.  It quickly hits you how desperately these children long to belong, and feel they are part of a family.  Yet, despite their circumstances, I was impressed how much laughter and joy they seemed to have playing with each other.  We asked Ilya to write us a story in his language.  It was a short sentence or two, but it basically said “Svyatik and I are normal children and we live well”.  It is truly amazing how you see the fingerprints of God in the most unexpected places.

After our party, we headed outside for several hours.  We brought a couple of junior-sized footballs, a couple of basketballs and a soccer ball for the orphanage. These were quickly put into constant use.  The older children joined us in yard, and I threw the football with them constantly for a couple of hours (and my arm is no worse for the wear).  Jocelyn and the kids kicked soccer balls with the kids and were doing their best to answer their questions.  Some of the children were taking turns riding the two rickety bicycles and giving rides to smaller children on the back.  The weather was awesome, and the sound of all of the kids playing and laughing made the day perfect.

After our outdoor time, we spent more time with the children in the afternoon.  Tons of Uno.  We brought math books, and Ilya and Svatik spent a good hour just enjoying doing math problems.  We brought many pictures of our family and life back in Tulsa, and the children were very excited to see them.  Ilya and Svyatik especially loved taking control of the iPad.  They are truly hooked on Angry Birds at this point.  They finally realized that they can just use the Eagle to wipe out all of the pigs, so the finer points of that game were a little lost on them I fear.

At the end of the day, we had to sadly say good-bye.  We showered a little bubble-gum and jolly ranchers along with some more bananas on all of the children.  There were many hugs as we left.  It was hard to leave them all there, but they are excited for Camp tomorrow, so we know they will be having some fun.  Tomorrow, we head to Zaporyzha, on what will be a travel day.  Then it is two days at orphanage #3 in Zaporyzha, were we hope to repeat most of the events of today with some more children, and understand what the needs of the orphanage are as well.  I will try to add some pics of our adventures today, so enjoy.