Monday, June 29, 2009
Finally!!!!!!
Finally all the waiting had paid off! We after 4 ½ hours of court received the long awaited decision that our 3 boys will soon be the newest addition to the Barker family. The boys we at court and returned to the internate following the court decision and the next day returned to the camp. Richard, Randi and I left the next day after visiting the boys for Kiev to complete our documents prior to Richard and Randi leaving Friday morning at 5:30am. I originally was not planning on going but it turned out to be a good thing because we discovered that I needed additional paperwork that both Richard and I needed to sign together. My plan was to leave Thursday night but I was not able to get a ticket for the train , so we grabbed a hotel room and Richard and Randi left for the airport at 2:30am and I spent the day in Kiev. I was able to get a Kupe for the return trip on Friday. Saturday I was able to visit the boys, Sunday I was not able to get a ride but did go again on Monday which is a holiday, Constitution day. Next Monday I will be able to pick up the boys, they are supposed to be at the internate but I still need to get some clarification. Thank you all for your prayers and support, please continue to pray for rapid completion of paperwork and a safe trip home. Also please keep Richard in your prayers as he is again having issues with his back and now hip and leg- please pray for healing, direction and for clarification that the choices we need to make. Also prayer for integrating our 3 newest members of the family.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Just another day
I brought pizza today which was a big hit with the boys and their friends. I have become very popular at the camp. I would love to say its my winning personality but in reality its my toys. I brought a couple extra gameboys to share along with my ipod I am never alone.
After Pizza and some video games the boys and I walked into the village and bought some clothes and ice cream. Back at camp Alex made me some tea that we had bought each day I try a differnt tea and am asked my opinion on it which would be easier to give if there was a little less sugar.
After camp I spent the evening with friends and then back to the apartment. Richard and Randi arrived saftly in Kiev and will take the train to Chernivtsy tomorrow.
After Pizza and some video games the boys and I walked into the village and bought some clothes and ice cream. Back at camp Alex made me some tea that we had bought each day I try a differnt tea and am asked my opinion on it which would be easier to give if there was a little less sugar.
After camp I spent the evening with friends and then back to the apartment. Richard and Randi arrived saftly in Kiev and will take the train to Chernivtsy tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Night at camp
Well I survived my night at camp. Because I was planning on spending the night I left a bit later in the day. First I went to the store and picked up some fruit and cookies to share with the camp kids and a few other snacks for me and the boys.
I arrived at the camp around 4:30. Spent the first few hours with the boys on the computer and then watching Alex play soccer. When it got later they let us use the sick room to hang out in until bedtime. We mostly listened to music off the boys MP3 players. They would play a song in English and then ask if it was a good song or not. There were quite a few rap songs so the conversations were interesting to say the least.
A quick summer storm took out the power for a while, we didn’t really notice it as we had been charging the computer so when the lights went out we just continued on with our music. A larger part of the camp was at the nightly “Disco” I don’t know exactly what that entailed as my boys were not really interested in dancing other then Joseph who was happy to just hang with us.
Around 10:30 we called it a night. I ended up sharing a room with 2 of the teachers at the camp. It wasn’t bad except for the bathrooms. Now bathroom is a loose term for village living- basically it is a jumbo size out house or roughly a room with 4 holes cut into the floor. At night there was one bathroom in the mail building for evening use only but I have to say the outhouses were cleaner. I spent a good portion of the night talking myself out of the need to visit the facility. Additionally the rooms are locked at night from the inside and I would have had no way to leave and come back without leaving the door unlocked with is a big no.
Finally at 6:30am I decided to great my day. I grabbed my stuff and headed out to a lovely morning rain. I was able to stay dry in a gazebo but apparently I was causing a bit of distress because I was in shorts and a t-shirt and sitting alone. Everyone seemed to think I was miserable when in reality I was really looking forward to reading my book alone. Finally when they couldn’t convince me I was cold they woke up Alex to take me inside. We hung out in the sick room again until breakfast which only Joseph wanted. I went with him to breakfast and seriously started to rethink my decision. First I felt bad because I really did not want that breakfast then I felt bad for my snobby attitude and lack of gratitude. These people had bent over backwards to make me feel welcome and taken care of and I was turning my nose up at their food. So with new resolve I sat down to hot tea with lots and lots and lots of sugar, a wheat pilaf, bread and butter and a sausage with gravy along with cucumber slice and an orange. I made it through the pilaf but just couldn’t eat the sausage other than that breakfast was ok and the bread baked fresh was really good.
After breakfast the boys made me more tea with more sugar and then we went to the store to buy a thank you gift to the administrator who allowed me to stay and snack for the boys.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to bring Pizza, we will see how it goes.
I arrived at the camp around 4:30. Spent the first few hours with the boys on the computer and then watching Alex play soccer. When it got later they let us use the sick room to hang out in until bedtime. We mostly listened to music off the boys MP3 players. They would play a song in English and then ask if it was a good song or not. There were quite a few rap songs so the conversations were interesting to say the least.
A quick summer storm took out the power for a while, we didn’t really notice it as we had been charging the computer so when the lights went out we just continued on with our music. A larger part of the camp was at the nightly “Disco” I don’t know exactly what that entailed as my boys were not really interested in dancing other then Joseph who was happy to just hang with us.
Around 10:30 we called it a night. I ended up sharing a room with 2 of the teachers at the camp. It wasn’t bad except for the bathrooms. Now bathroom is a loose term for village living- basically it is a jumbo size out house or roughly a room with 4 holes cut into the floor. At night there was one bathroom in the mail building for evening use only but I have to say the outhouses were cleaner. I spent a good portion of the night talking myself out of the need to visit the facility. Additionally the rooms are locked at night from the inside and I would have had no way to leave and come back without leaving the door unlocked with is a big no.
Finally at 6:30am I decided to great my day. I grabbed my stuff and headed out to a lovely morning rain. I was able to stay dry in a gazebo but apparently I was causing a bit of distress because I was in shorts and a t-shirt and sitting alone. Everyone seemed to think I was miserable when in reality I was really looking forward to reading my book alone. Finally when they couldn’t convince me I was cold they woke up Alex to take me inside. We hung out in the sick room again until breakfast which only Joseph wanted. I went with him to breakfast and seriously started to rethink my decision. First I felt bad because I really did not want that breakfast then I felt bad for my snobby attitude and lack of gratitude. These people had bent over backwards to make me feel welcome and taken care of and I was turning my nose up at their food. So with new resolve I sat down to hot tea with lots and lots and lots of sugar, a wheat pilaf, bread and butter and a sausage with gravy along with cucumber slice and an orange. I made it through the pilaf but just couldn’t eat the sausage other than that breakfast was ok and the bread baked fresh was really good.
After breakfast the boys made me more tea with more sugar and then we went to the store to buy a thank you gift to the administrator who allowed me to stay and snack for the boys.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to bring Pizza, we will see how it goes.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Back again
June 10 I once again boarded a plane to Ukraine. I am traveling solo for the first week when Richard and Randi will join me. Our court date is June 23rd and if all goes well Richard and Randi will return shortly after and I will stay and finish the paper work.
This flight was on a different airline and I swear the seats were closer together, it was a shorter flight however and that made it a bit more bearable. I arrive in Kiev at 10:40pm which was too late to take the train the same day so I stayed in a hotel for the night and headed out to Chernivtsy the next day which put my actual arrival in the region 4 days after I left.
My friends met me at the train station and took me to my apartment where I grabbed a quick shower and then they picked me up again and took me to see the boys. The camp the boys are at for the summer is about an hour and 10 minutes away. The trip is interesting as well with roads that change from asphalt to dirt to gravel to half asphalt and dirt and so on, Richard would have loved the dirt and mud puddles if he had his truck. In addition to the unique road conditions you have cows, goats, sheep, horses and ducks to contend with, more often than not in the middle of the road. The scenery was amazing, lots of lush green farm land, rolling hills and trees.
When got closer to our destination the boys were waiting out on the road to show us the way into the camp. The camp is well kept and the staff is friendly. The downside for the kids is there is nothing for them to do. At the internate they could leave the school and find things to do around town, hear they are miles from anything and the largest store nearby is half the size of a gas station mini mart. We visited with the kids for a few hours and then headed back. I did some quick grocery shopping and went to bed.
The next day, Sunday, we again went to see the boys only this time my friends dropped me off and picked me up several hours later.
The boys and I first walked around the village and went to the bazaar which was about 20 booths were the boys bought coffee and tea and then on to the store where the boys grabbed body wash, shampoo, a razor, shaving cream, shoes, soup, sugar, cups and spoons and sausage.
We then headed back to the camp and hung out in Kevin’s room which was a large room with about 8 beds for an hour or so until Karaoke started and Alex had to join in. So I spent the rest of the visit on the bench watching Alex sing and the other 2 boys play video games while the rest of the camp watched them.
Monday we left to go to the camp around 12:00, a couple hours earlier the women asked me to lead a bible study for the kids. So with little time to prepare and no idea what to share with a group of kids ranging between 6 and 17 years of age, I did my best. Not to mention the added joy of having to pause and wait for the translator which adds a whole new aspect to teaching because you have to work to keep your place. I did OK, not my best but I think I only lost about 25% of my audience so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Afterwards I got to speak with my boys for a while with a translator, various different subjects like killing poisonous snakes and why it’s a bad idea to joke about bombs on a commercial airliner to how to escape from handcuffs.
On our way home I got to drive, it was actually a request from the women who owned the car as this was her second time driving without her husband. Fortunately married to Richard I was equipped to navigate the unique road conditions.
We stopped so I could activate my internet card and then I was invited to attend a small group for the church in which I was again asked to share. Having only 2 minutes to prepare this time I asked for at least a scripture passage to work with to which I was given Luke 16 the parable of the unfaithful steward- I have to say this is my least favorite parable as it appears to commend dishonest business practices so I was then motivated to find my own passage of scripture verse trying to mess with the spiritual concepts mixed up in that story. I finally settled on 2 Corinthians 12:9 and shared on the thorn in Paul’s flesh.
Tomorrow I met with our attorney at 10:00 and afterwards my friends found me a driver to take me to the camp for 150 hyrivnas which is approx. $20 US dollars. I will go up a bit later as I have been invited to stay the night. I will have my own room- I don’t have to share with 7 other kids and I imagine it will be quite the experience. This camp is different, a lot more kids and a lot more needy. I will sit down on a bench and have children rush to sit by me and lean against me for a hug or any sign of affection, breaking out my package of mints emptied out in seconds. Many of the kids are from different internate so I don’t recognize them all- additionally some are disabled. Keep these children also in your prayers and for the women from the church who lead the bible studies for these children and are a source of love for these kids.
This flight was on a different airline and I swear the seats were closer together, it was a shorter flight however and that made it a bit more bearable. I arrive in Kiev at 10:40pm which was too late to take the train the same day so I stayed in a hotel for the night and headed out to Chernivtsy the next day which put my actual arrival in the region 4 days after I left.
My friends met me at the train station and took me to my apartment where I grabbed a quick shower and then they picked me up again and took me to see the boys. The camp the boys are at for the summer is about an hour and 10 minutes away. The trip is interesting as well with roads that change from asphalt to dirt to gravel to half asphalt and dirt and so on, Richard would have loved the dirt and mud puddles if he had his truck. In addition to the unique road conditions you have cows, goats, sheep, horses and ducks to contend with, more often than not in the middle of the road. The scenery was amazing, lots of lush green farm land, rolling hills and trees.
When got closer to our destination the boys were waiting out on the road to show us the way into the camp. The camp is well kept and the staff is friendly. The downside for the kids is there is nothing for them to do. At the internate they could leave the school and find things to do around town, hear they are miles from anything and the largest store nearby is half the size of a gas station mini mart. We visited with the kids for a few hours and then headed back. I did some quick grocery shopping and went to bed.
The next day, Sunday, we again went to see the boys only this time my friends dropped me off and picked me up several hours later.
The boys and I first walked around the village and went to the bazaar which was about 20 booths were the boys bought coffee and tea and then on to the store where the boys grabbed body wash, shampoo, a razor, shaving cream, shoes, soup, sugar, cups and spoons and sausage.
We then headed back to the camp and hung out in Kevin’s room which was a large room with about 8 beds for an hour or so until Karaoke started and Alex had to join in. So I spent the rest of the visit on the bench watching Alex sing and the other 2 boys play video games while the rest of the camp watched them.
Monday we left to go to the camp around 12:00, a couple hours earlier the women asked me to lead a bible study for the kids. So with little time to prepare and no idea what to share with a group of kids ranging between 6 and 17 years of age, I did my best. Not to mention the added joy of having to pause and wait for the translator which adds a whole new aspect to teaching because you have to work to keep your place. I did OK, not my best but I think I only lost about 25% of my audience so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Afterwards I got to speak with my boys for a while with a translator, various different subjects like killing poisonous snakes and why it’s a bad idea to joke about bombs on a commercial airliner to how to escape from handcuffs.
On our way home I got to drive, it was actually a request from the women who owned the car as this was her second time driving without her husband. Fortunately married to Richard I was equipped to navigate the unique road conditions.
We stopped so I could activate my internet card and then I was invited to attend a small group for the church in which I was again asked to share. Having only 2 minutes to prepare this time I asked for at least a scripture passage to work with to which I was given Luke 16 the parable of the unfaithful steward- I have to say this is my least favorite parable as it appears to commend dishonest business practices so I was then motivated to find my own passage of scripture verse trying to mess with the spiritual concepts mixed up in that story. I finally settled on 2 Corinthians 12:9 and shared on the thorn in Paul’s flesh.
Tomorrow I met with our attorney at 10:00 and afterwards my friends found me a driver to take me to the camp for 150 hyrivnas which is approx. $20 US dollars. I will go up a bit later as I have been invited to stay the night. I will have my own room- I don’t have to share with 7 other kids and I imagine it will be quite the experience. This camp is different, a lot more kids and a lot more needy. I will sit down on a bench and have children rush to sit by me and lean against me for a hug or any sign of affection, breaking out my package of mints emptied out in seconds. Many of the kids are from different internate so I don’t recognize them all- additionally some are disabled. Keep these children also in your prayers and for the women from the church who lead the bible studies for these children and are a source of love for these kids.
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