Sunday, November 6, 2011

Visiting the Children

Looking down on Dobromel

The beautiful Carpathian Mountains


Nine years ago I began visiting the internat, (orphanage), in Marganets. Three years ago, I was introduced to the children of the internat in Dobromel about five hundred miles from Marganets. With no one in Dobromel to translate, I was very limited as to what I could do, or how I could interact with the children. This October 2011 would be different.

My organization approved a massage demonstration program for twenty days in October. Sveta, my fiancé, would be the demonstrating masseuse. Because she spoke enough English to help me with any of my needs, I had the opportunity to visit the children for two weeks and experience what life in the internat system as really like.

Upon my return from America on October 10, I called Sveta every evening. She was living in the internat, in a room located beside the exercise and massage rooms. During our calls, I would here a "knock, knock, knock", but she would continue to talk with me. She explained the children would knock on her door and run away. She was somewhat amused, but it did not remain as much fun for her as it was for the children.

I arrive on October 17th, almost ready to embrace the unknown. Dobromel is a small community, nestled in the Carpathian Mountains, seven kilometers from the boarder of Poland. The fall of the Soviet system left Dobromel very poor and somewhat helpless. I am seeing some improvements, but the horse and cart are still being used by some farmers or transporters. I see tractors in the fields, but they are from soviet times. People still farm the land with manual tools.

Two weeks in Dobromel has opened my eyes to many things. Of course, the lifestyles of the children are the most obvious; it can only be seen by living at the internat. A second matter of interest is the lifestyles of the people who work here. The cooks, for example, prepare food all day, from early morning until clean up is complete at 8 PM. They work every other day.

The living conditions have improve over the past three years, mostly bathroom, shower, and laundry facilities. It is great to see that institutional care has moved forward, but I believe that it is due to church donations and manual labor of visiting short-term missionaries. All of the beds, made in bunk-bed style,
were donated by the Pentecostal church of a local community.

Of the 119 children living at this orphanage, only 11 are true orphans. The rest of the children come from difficult homes where parents are not equipped to raise their own children who have special need. Many fathers reject their own children at birth because they were not born in a healthy state. This causes many single parent families to occur.

This gives you a bird’s eye view of life in Dobromel, Ukraine, but there is more to come. Sveta and I will share our individual stories of our adventures with the children in future articles.

Travels to Dobromel



After three months in America doing fundraising for the new massage program at the internat in Dobromel, I had seven days to rest. The evening of October 16, I boarded a train for L’viv, Ukraine. The next morning, after a peaceful night’s sleep, I departed the train at five AM to begin my search for the bus to Dobromel. I was told to look to the left of the front entrance of the train station.

When I looked, I saw more than ten buses parked in the dark, most with the engines turned off. Each bus had a banner across the top of the windshield stating its origin was L’viv, and which city or village was the final destination. After walking past each one, I was disappointed to find that none had the final destination of Dobromel.

I began my second tour of the buses, this time, looking for a list of stops. I found one, the driver standing outside of his bus. Forgetting that I should speak Ukrainian, I asked what time the bus would begin its travel. He asked me to repeat, but when I did, he only turned away, saying something like, “Who taught you to talk.” I tried again, this time simply asking, “Dobromel?” He replied, “Da, Dobromel”. So, I entered the bus and found a seat for myself, setting my backpack on my lap, my messenger bag beside me, and my green bag of gifts for friends on the last leg of my journey, on the floor.

Have you ever entered the wrong bus for the right destination? Such was my predicament. Sveta, who would be waiting for me at my final destination, told me that Dobromel would be the last stop and that the trip would be 2 hours. When two hours had passed, I began to pay very close attention to the location of each stop. Finally, I asked two women about Dobromel who were standing in the isle; they pack the buses like sardines; they agreed that Dobromel would be soon. My final heads-up that I was in Dobromel was when I saw Sveta standing in the cold waiting for me. I quickly put on my backpack and forced my way through the thinning crowd on the bus …

Inspiration within the Internat



Life in the internat (orphanage) system in Ukraine is a tough road to walk. Living with 120 to 160 children, ages 6 to 18, eating and sleeping in large groups, void of some of the simplest chances for privacy, life is nothing less than a daily challenge. In these internats are for children with physical and mental disabilities, the challenges of self-image and social development are multiplied considerably.
The children of the Dobromel Internat are one example of these children. Not only are the children challenged, but also Dobromel is a poor community and receives little financial help from the national government in Kiev, Ukraine. The facility is old and worn out, recently receiving standard and cosmetic repair. Through many donations from other organizations in America and possibly other countries, the children have decent clothing to wear, and beds to sleep in, although, they need the most basic elements of life; those are love and attention.
Pastor Volodya and his team visit from two hours away whenever possible. They bringing love and attention in the form of the AWANA program, providing activity and food, both physical and spiritual. Tamara, a young woman working as a nurse, gives her free time to visit the children. It is clear in the picture above that the children are famished to experience something new. Crowding around Tamara, they want her attention, her friendship, and contact with someone from a world different from their own.
There are players and there are spectators. In the second picture above, look at the expressions on their faces. What do you see? Are some of them content to be spectators? May some be anxious to participate? Will some be challenged to stop watching life pass before them and get involved in the game? This is our task. Volodya and his team are there to encourage the children to realize that they are valuable players on the team.
I hope to be able to visit more often. I want to spend more time with the children, learning more about their education and social opportunities. Please follow our blog as my future wife, Svetlana, and I visit Dobromel, Marganets, Froonza, and more communities as the doors open. Our goal is to help disadvantaged children find a better piece of life, reaching for all that they can grasp.