Report 10 | May 11, 2010
Nadvernia Special Orphanage
Today’s first visit was to the town of Nadvernia and an orphanage for special needs children ages 1 month to 5 years. The orphanage usually has 60 children in care but now there are only 41. The decrease is due to a special adoption program by which the government of Ukraine is paying Ukrainian families to adopt these children. A new law is in force that says any child that is to be adopted must be placed on a one-year list and made available to Ukrainian families to adopt. If the child is not adopted after the one-year lapses then foreign adoptions can be made.
The new stress on adopting children has had an impact upon this orphanage. They are now waiting to be told what their status will actually become. They think that most likely they will become a rehabilitation center for handicapped children. The children they have in care have genetic disorders and some children are placed there because they are from single-parent homes (mothers only) and the mothers have been admitted to psychiatric hospitals. One baby that we saw was placed there because her mother and father were siblings and they had been admitted to a psychiatric facility.
Ivan had arranged for several items from our containers to be distributed to this special needs baby home—baby swings, linens, children’s chairs, and receiving blankets.
A COMMON NEED in these homes for the special needs children are plates. Because of the disabilities, the plates and cups are often broken. I have often thought that the old school lunchroom plates and cups would be ideal for these places since these were made of plastic. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE OLD SCHOOL LUNCH PLATES AND GLASSES ARE??? If you do, please advise me! Actually any type of plastic plates, cups, and glasses (that are in very good condition with no cracks or chips) would work in these boarding schools and orphanages. Also, I have been asked for cooking pots WITH lids. We were also asked for small chairs and tables.
Bible class tonight
Our attendance was down from last night with 12 showing up for the first session and 11 for the second session. We continued our study of Ephesians and tonight we gave a survey of the last half (chapters 4-6). These chapters highlight the changes that come with true conversion.
Tomorrow will begin very early (around 5:00 a.m.) and will end very late as we will be meeting John Durham and Ira at the Ivano-Frankivsk airport around midnight. The visit tomorrow will be to a location about 3 hours away from Ivano-Frankivsk and will be an all-day trip bringing us back to Ivano-Frankivsk just in time to run to class.
As we drive through the countryside here we are seeing a number of people working their gardens. The weather has been wonderful and seeing the freshly plowed gardens is beautiful. The Knob Creek congregation (Fulton, KY) has once again shipped some garden seeds for this area. The seeds have not yet arrived but they are awaiting with eagerness.
The anticipated shootout with the Ivano-Frankivsk militia marksmen did not materialize today because of scheduling conflicts. They are trying to reschedule either Thursday or Friday.
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
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