Arrival in Ukraine July ‘13

We have arrived in Ukraine!!! Travel was smooth all the way to Kiev without delays. Unfortunately, our luggage was delayed in Zurich to Kiev. It is said to arrive in Kharkiv sometime tomorrow. We were blessed that our wheelchair made it on the plane and it is in perfect shape. Please keep in your prayers that our luggage arrives tomorrow and that we are able to serve the children at Green Forest the best we can with what we have. So nice to be in the company of Olga, Alex, and Leo. Their smiles sure were a blessing after the luggage ordeal!   We will post as available these next few days

Ukraine, Oct 2012 – Day 5

We spent our final day in Ukraine working with many children and families who traveled to see us. Several of them had visited us in previous years, and showed great progress.  During this trip, we were able to give away ALL of the wheelchairs, standers, gait trainers, and strollers that we brought with us, and a majority of the walkers and orthotics as well!  The last child of the day today needed the very last wheel chair we had left.  We are very thankful for the prayers over the packing and distribution of the equipment we brought, God’s hand was definitely on it.

Ukraine, Oct 2012 – Day 4

We were extremely blessed to accomplish several exciting things today! We presented the NICU at the local hospital with the gift of window coverings, which they were very grateful for and asked us to come back next time we are in Ukraine. We are very excited about continuing to develop this relationship and are excited to think of the changes these curtains will have on the environment for the babies in the NICU by making it more beneficial for their growth and development.

Ukraine, Oct 2012 – Day 3

We traveled this morning to a neighboring city, where they warmly welcomed us at their special needs school. We arrived early to set up and families were already lined up waiting to see us. We dove right in and started evaluating and ended up seeing over 45 children. One of the remarkable stories involved a teenage boy who was first seen by us in 2010 at which time he was carried in by his mother. In 2011, he returned and received a wheelchair from us. This trip, he was able to take independent steps with a walker. He told us that walking was his biggest wish! We were also able to give a wheelchair to a 9 year old girl, who instinctively began moving the wheelchair on her own. Her mother was so happy and said she could not believe her daughter was able to do this. We enjoyed watching her leave independently.

Ukraine, Oct 2012 – Day 2

A team of 3 therapists visited the Children’s Hospital today. We started out in the NICU, where we reviewed positioning techniques and taught oral motor techniques to improve feeding. They were also receptive to the idea of curtains for the bright open windows in the NICU, and we are having them made to be delivered later this week. We were very encouraged when they asked if we would visit a different part of the hospital to examine a little girl with a cleft palate. Connie was able to give them great ideas for helping this little girl.

Ukraine, Oct 2012 – Day 1

Our 4 missing bags were delivered to our hotel late Monday afternoon. We were so so thankful! We started out with Day One by returning to our home base orphanage where we were warmly welcomed with hugs and smiles. We saw many of the children we had visited on previous trips and did follow up on education and adaptive equipment. We saw great progress in some of the children we had worked with the previous year who were very weak. The caregivers have been very receptive to suggestions and have helped the children become stronger through positioning and play.

We also had the opportunity to meet several children that were new to the orphange. We were allowed to see more children and had access to more rooms than ever before! We look forward to sharing updates about our final day at Antoshka tomorrow, and at the children’s hospital. We appreciate your continued prayers!