TEAMWorks Ukraine - Thursday, July 11th!

Today can be described as a whirlwind. We started out the morning at our home base orphanage where we were warmly greeted with smiles and hugs.  We toured the newly opened rehab centered associated with the orphanage.  The director was so excited to show us around. As we toured, he asked for brainstorming on ways to better set up the space for best function for the children. 

After the tour we visited with several orphans and caregivers in the gym. We saw lots of familiar faces and got lots of good questions from the therapists and caregivers. It was a bit chaotic so we asked to go the rooms. We had time for only one room before lunch and quickly made some assessments with plans to visit again later.

After lunch at the orphanage we went back to our hotel where the conference room was reserved for what we thought would be a few family visits.  It ended up being organized by a local support organization for children with special needs and their families.  It's meant there were far more than a few.  When we walked in 30 mins before start time there were already 4 families waiting.  We really don't know how many families we saw because it was nonstop from when we walked in and at times when we briefly looked up we could see a roomful of families waiting.  We worked efficiently and managed to get everyone seen in 5 1/2 hours.

It was exciting to see many of the families returning equipment that they had previously received from us because they no longer needed it.  We gave out one wheelchair and had two returned to us.  It is wonderful to see our equipment being taken care of and recycled within the country to continue to help children with special needs.

One of our favorite little cutie of the day was a 7 year old birthday boy.  He was serenaded by the therapists and received a small birthday gift.  Each discipline was able to contribute to his recommendations and his sweet mother was very grateful.

Tomorrow we will spend the entire day at the orphanage. We are excited to revisit the rooms and follow up with some of our favorite orphans.  The director has also asked therapists from the region to come and observe our sessions tomorrow.

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