Thursday, October 09, 2008

Back to Voloshka

Voloshka Orphanage

On Tuesday, we went back to Voloshka orphanage here in Bila Tserkva after last visiting in April of 2007. We finally got an open door to go back and visit the children after Nastya told us that she and some friends make regular visits there. We met up with her and four of her friends to spend about an hour and a half coloring and playing with these beautiful little children.

Voloshka Orphanage

Voloshka Orphanage
They have such tiny little beds.

Voloshka is a very nice orphanage by normal standards in Ukraine, but like all children these kids need loving human contact. We are praying that we might be able to start some kind of Bible Club or regular teaching for some of the kids at Voloshka. We only saw a small group of them, ages five to six. There are groups of younger and older kids in the rest of the building. It would be a blessing to be able to spend some time with them as well. You can't imagine how much a hug means to these little ones until you've had them run to you as you pass in a hallway just to steal a quick embrace.

Voloshka Orphanage
Six year old Ivan is one of the children still with the same group since we last visited a year and a half ago. Sadly, he and another boy don't seem to have grown much since we last saw them. All of the children are much smaller and skinnier than they should be for their age.

Voloshka Orphanage
Polina, the only girl in the group, tried to braid Nastya's hair.

Voloshka Orphanage
Edna giving Arsen a ride. This little guy was so funny and kept us all laughing with his sense of humor.

Voloshka Orphanage
The children were so excited just to be shown a little affection.

Voloshka Orphanage
Polina and Edna having some girl time together.

Voloshka Orphanage
Before we left, we passed out pechyvo and tsukerky (cookies and candy). Just in case the children were low on sugar :)

3 comments:

Olya Velichko said...

this does look like a pretty nice orphanage.

Greg and Edna Silva said...

Olya,
I wish all the orphanages were this nice. Some that we have seen were so bad that they didn't want us to take pictures. But even at Voloshka, all the nice things don't make up for not having parents or someone who will tell you that you are loved. We can't wait to go back.

-Greg

Anonymous said...

That is nice orphanage compared to the other one in town. Good luck with your work there. scotto