NewsDnipro Trip July 2007 – Jim Divine Being one of the three new Dnipro committee members it was a great privilege for me to be visiting Dnipropetrovsk so early in my tenure. I imagine that the other committee member hoping to visit, Robert Brown, felt exactly the same. Unfortunately one of the other new additions to the committee, Trish Divine, was not able to make the trip on this occasion.Being new to this trip myself, it was nice to know that we’d have Steven Carr (almost a veteran of these trips) leading the way to Dnipropetrovsk. 
The Dnipro Appeal also had a major boost the Friday before we left, with the Hibernian Interactive team generously helping to raise a thousand pounds for the charity by way of a race night. I’d like to say a huge thank you to Stuart Crowther and the HI team for organising the event and for their continued support of the Dnipro Appeal.Now on to the trip. Wednesday 4th July With Robert Brown already in Kiev on business, the plan was for Stevie and I to meet Robert in Kiev on the Thursday morning and from there we would all take the train to Dnipropetrovsk. However, the trip didn’t start too well with our flight out of Edinburgh being delayed by some 40 minutes, apparently due to thunderstorms over central Europe which were causing delays for a number of airlines. Eventually we took off from Edinburgh quite a bit behind schedule, which had us in a bit of a panic as our other 2 connections were pretty tight from one plane to the other. At this point I think it would be proper to offer a huge thank you to Lufthansa Airlines who, once again, were able to allow us to take additional cases filled with sponsors gifts, baby clothes and various other donated items. Upon arrival at Frankfurt we found ourselves sprinting through the airport for our connection to Munich. We made the connection with a few minutes to spare but a further delay, due to the thunder and lightning that was clearly visible over the airport, had us sweating on our next connection at Munich. We were delayed for over an hour and actually landed in Munich 5 minutes after our flight to Kiev was due to leave. Thankfully though Lufthansa had held our flight on the tarmac and another sprint through Munich airport saw us seated on the flight to Kiev. These unforeseen delays saw us arriving at Kiev at around midnight and as we waited in baggage reclaim for our last case, the one with all of the presents and letters for the kids, it became apparent that it was not coming. Things don’t always move as quickly in the Ukraine as they do over here so we found ourselves stuck at the lost luggage department for about an hour. After completing the necessary paperwork we eventually managed to find ourselves a taxi and headed for the hotel. Arriving at the hotel some time before 2am there was just enough time for a quick wash and then straight to bed setting the alarm for 6am! Thursday 5 th July The next morning we were up sharpish and headed off to meet up with Robert in Kiev train station. There was just about enough time for a quick tour of the station and a bit of breakfast. As we listened to what seemed like communist inspired music, playing loudly through the tannoy system, I almost felt obliged to start marching in time with the music. We made our way to the train but found ourselves blocked at the doors by a couple of Ukrainian train guards who seemed insistent that there was no way we would be getting on the train. Transport on the Ukraine railway system requires you to show your passport and the train ticket has to match. Unfortunately Robert had purchased our tickets but was unable to give our passport details so things looked bleak. Thankfully though Robert speaks Russian so, for a nominal fee, was able to negotiate us on to the train. The train journey itself went very quickly as the three of us discussed the objectives for the next few days. We arrived in Dnipro around 5 and a half hours later and were almost floored by the heat as we stepped from the train. Summer, at least, was behaving itself in this country! Ira and Wes met us off the train and we quickly loaded the suitcases into the mini-bus lent to Wes by our old friend Mike Pratt. We got ourselves booked into the Hotel Dnipropetrovsk and, after a quick shower, we were off to the shops to start purchasing some of the items Ira had pre-ordered prior to our arrival. Medical equipment, school tables, benches and bookcases for the kids at Predniprovsk with shoes, underwear, cups and dishes being the priority for Odinkovka. Of course some of the kids might not appreciate these essentials, as much as the directors do, so there were plenty of toys and sweets bought for the kids as well. After the shopping we made our way to a local diner by the name of Poozata Hata (which roughly translates to Fat Belly House) and I managed to get a taste of Ukrainian Borsch for the first time. I liked it, although I’m not a lover of onions. 
With a full stomach it gave us an energy boost as we headed to the TB centre. The welcome from the kids as we arrived was overwhelming. They were so excited about our arrival that I knew at once that the trip would be well worthwhile. The kids were all over us and more so once I produced my digital camera as they bustled to get their photographs taken, in groups or individually. One of the main reasons for going to the TB Sanatorium was to deliver a lot of the items purchased that day (the furniture be delivered a few days later) and also to speak with the director about how things had been since our last visit.Vasily, the sanatorium director, is a fantastic individual who really cares about the well being of the children. We were made very welcome by Vasily and he has also promised to help us out with some of the bureaucratic obstacles associated with bringing donated items into the Ukraine. You could not have seen happier kids as we dished out a couple of boxes of Mars bars. It was a lovely scene. I must admit though, I felt really bad when the kids were asking me the most basic questions and I didn’t have a clue what they were saying! Thankfully Robert was on hand to translate and Stevie is making amazing progress with his Russian as well. I have vowed to try to learn a bit more of the language than simply Da, Nyet or Spaseeba! One of my main objectives while in Dnipropetrovsk was to gather information first hand and to see how I could use my business skills (I have an advertising & design agency) to increase the awareness of the plight of these kids. After we had spent some time with the kids Vasily, the director of the centre, invited us in for a snack and a thank you vodka! Steve had warned both Robert and I about the bottomless vodka glasses that were in Vasily’s office. I never drink the stuff but still found myself toasting everything from our CIS Cup win, to hoping Scotland beat Ukraine the next time they played us. Vasily speaks very little English so I think I got away with it! 
Whilst in Dnipropetrovsk an emergency situation arose concerning a baby boy, at the Baby Orphanage we often help out, who desperately required medication. The Bear Child Centre we support did not have any funds to buy baby Sergei the medicine he required to give him a shot at life, so the committee members had to decide if we should fund this anti-biotic medicine at a cost of around £100. I personally had no hesitation, as did Robert, but I know Stevie is conscious that we cannot save the world and had to make sure he was making the right choice. In the end it was a unanimous decision to purchase the medication from our tight budget but if it meant a shot at life then we felt it was worth the gamble. It would be nice if we could have said the episode had a happy outcome but unfortunately we discovered that little Sergei had not managed to pull through. He had battled on for another week but unfortunately he was too weak to fight off the illness. An all too common end to such problems within the Ukraine.Friday 6 th July 
The next day, with surprisingly no headache, Stevie made his way into town for more shopping, whilst Robert and I headed back to the TB centre at Predniprovsk to spend a bit more time with the kids and get a few more photographs. Stevie, Wes and Ira picked us up at Predniprovsk early afternoon and we all headed over to see the other kids at the Odinkovka orphanage. One of the first things Stevie and I did was to get a game of football going with the kids. Stevie and I were on separate teams and I hate to boast but my double hat trick helped us to secure a convincing victory. I discovered that Stevie does not take defeat lightly. After the visit to Odinkovka we headed back to the hotel before heading out to a local Mexican restaurant with Ira, and her daughter Natalie, to discuss where we were going with the appeal over the next few months. This was also Roberts last night in Dnipro, as he had to travel to Kiev for business meetings the following day, so we had our meal and then wished Robert a safe journey as he headed off for his overnight train.
There was devastating news for Stevie on the Friday night though. Deana and Princessa, the sisters he had been sponsoring from day one, had been moved to another orphanage 2 hours away from the city and nobody seemed to know anything about it. Stevie had grown really close to the girls over the course of the Dnipro Appeal visits and this seemed like a real blow to him. The committee are currently working on a plan to find out more about the exact whereabouts of the girls and what can be done to continue the support for them.
One of the items discussed with Ira during the meal was focusing the charity to ensure funding is in place to help get one of the kids at Odinkovka, Nastya Devatoya, a much needed operation. She has had a hip disorder since birth and if she does not get an operation quickly she may well be disabled for the rest of her life. The committee had decided to give its support for the operation but it is going to require additional fund raising events to raise the required funding. We have faith that the Hibernian community will once again rally to the cause and that raising the funds of around £3000 will be achieved. The procedure will involve a number of separate operations for Nastya and she may have to spend over a year in hospital!Saturday 7th July - (Happy Hibbie Day) 
On the Saturday, we took the birthday kids from Odinkovka, 7 girls and one boy (Danil) to see the new Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille. It was a good film for the kids and made all the more interesting to me watching a movie in a different language. After the film we then took the kids for a McDonalds. The kids were all bought a ‘Happy Meal’ and once we were all seated we handed out the gifts we’d bought them for their birthdays and for some of them we passed on gifts and letters from their sponsors. It was great to see the excitement amongst the kids and the ones with sponsors letter listened intently as Ira’s daughter Natalie translated them. There was one incident that gave all of us a lump in our throats. We noticed that Danil was not eating his burger and asked Ira what was wrong. Danil replied that he was keeping his burger to share with his brother back at the orphanage! We got him another happy meal for his brother back to the orphanage, which allowed Danil to enjoy his meal with the rest of the kids. 
These kids really take care of each other. The birthday presents that were given out seemed to be so appreciated by the kids, none more than little Nastya who received a fluffy flying horse. As soon as she opened it she was all over it. Danil got a Ninja turtle and as soon as he got back to the orphanage he spent the rest of the afternoon fighting with it on his bed. The trip back to Odinkovka was so much different from the trip going with the kids now filled with excitement and so much more open and friendly with Stevie and myself. Arrival back to Odinkovka was just as enjoyable, as the kids that we’d just dropped off went running to their friends to show them their presents and tell them all about their trip. There was time to get a few more photos before we had to head back to the city. 
Saturdays evening meal was dedicated to all of the Ukraine based people, and their families, who help out the Dnipro Appeal during the course of the year. Ira’s family and Wes’s family joined us as we met up with Mike Pratt’s family and Pam that runs the Bear Child Centre. It was a fair crowd of us and we headed for a steak house that Mike had recommended. It was nice to get everybody together and just have an informal chat about things that had been going on in our lives. It also shocked me to discover that some of them at the table had not even had a proper steak before. Wes certainly wasn’t one of them though as he ordered and polished off a 16oz T-Bone!It turned out that the main reason why some of them didn’t eat steak was that they were so expensive (Stevie told me afterwards that the steak Wes ordered was just over £2!). It brought home to me just how well off we are in the west, these guys live day to day with things that for us would be incomprehensible, yet they just get on with it. Many of you may not realise just how much we depend on Ira, Natalie and Wes. They are our ears, eyes and wheels in Dnipropetrovsk and without them we would be pretty helpless. I should have mentioned earlier but whilst we were having our evening meal I received a text from a friend to remind us to have a Happy Hibby day 07-07-07. Stevie and I made sure we went out after the meal was finished and celebrated properly with a few beers. Sunday 8th July Sunday was the last day in Dnipro for Stevie and I. I spent the morning looking around the town and getting a feel for the place. I could not help but be moved by the difference a few miles can make. The town centre has amazing properties (£300,000 for a flat) and has many statues and sculptures depicting mothers, children and the importance of family. Yet there is a complete disregard for these kids just a few miles down the road. 
Our train was due to leave around 10.30pm so we had a few hours to kill. Ira very kindly took us on a guided tour of the history museum and then a wander round Shevchenko Park. The museum is an amazing collection of artefacts and memorabilia from before Dnipropetrovsk was formed, through the wars as well as the rise and collapse of the Soviet Union. Ira’s stories were a real eye opener for me, her father was a KGB officer most of his life and as Dnipropetrovsk was a ‘closed city’ until 1992 there was a great deal of secrecy involved. This still reverberates today as every hotel we went to had a woman sitting on a desk on every floor of the hotels. Ira told us this was what they did in the past to keep track of the movements of everyone! The museum though is well worth the visit, although it would certainly benefit from air-conditioning being installed for the summer months! Later on we met up again with Mike who treated us to an ice cream at a parlour near his flat to say thanks for the meal the previous night. We enjoyed the ice cream in the warm weather and had a nice conversation with Mike before heading back to the hotel to collect our bags and heading to Ira’s flat. Within a 24 hour period Stevie and I found ourselves in four different City centres. Leaving Dnipro centre on the Sunday night saw us move on to the main square in Kiev on the Monday morning, before a missed connection allowed us a couple of hours in Frankfurt, for some genuine German pretzels and a Steiner of German lager, before finally arriving back to Edinburgh on the Monday evening. My lasting thoughts are of the kids in the TB centre and the Odinkovka orphanage. It was without doubt one of the most rewarding, and eye opening, things I’ve ever done in my life. The sponsors and supporters should be really proud of themselves as the difference that they make to these kids is a real highlight in their difficult lives. May I also give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped the Dnipro Appeal. Jim Divine, Committee Member - www.dniprokids.com |
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