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April Update

Easter time is always a busy time, not least because of the school holidays and the need to find things for the kids to do. It’s no different at the Odinkovka and Tabachnaya orphanages in Dnipropetrovsk so the Dnipro Appeal has been helping out and funding trips for the kids during the school holidays.

Tabachnaya Trip to Ecological Centre

The Dnipro Appeal funded an orphanage trip to the Ecological Centre in Dnipropetrovsk. From the way that Ira describes it I think it is a cross between the tropical house in the Royal Botanical Gardens and Butterfly World on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Unfortunately Ira felt that the humid temperature inside the building would be too risky for the camera so we only have a couple of photos of the kids at the entrance.
It was the kids first ever visit to the Centre and Ira says that they were fascinated by the tropical birds, fish and plants that were on display. Ira also said that the director of the Tabachnaya orphanage would like to say a huge thank you to the Dnipro Appeal, which really means a huge thanks to you for your continued support, for funding the trip. .

Odinkovka Trip to Cinema

The Odinkovka kids had a trip to the cinema followed by a visit to McDonalds.
Ira tells us that the film they watched was an American Youth Production (obviously dubbed into Russian) called “A War Of Brides”. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find any more information on it but Ira says that the kids seemed to enjoy it. So once again the kids seemed to have a great time in the City Most complex and were very grateful for the trip and the “happy meal”.

Socks, Slippers and Photos

The directors at Odinkovka and Tabachnaya sent out an SOS for socks and slippers at the orphanages. With socks worn out and slippers outgrown the kids were in desperate need of replacements.

Ira is currently still scouring the shops for the best deals on slippers but last week she managed to get the first lot of socks out to Odinkovka.

The visit also gave her a chance to drop off some of the photos she’d got printed off. I often get feedback from everyone about how good it is to get the photos from Ukraine of the kids and the events, so it’s of little surprise to learn that the kids themselves also love to see the photographs. Ira will often use some of the funds to get a nice selection of photographs printed off and handed out to the kids, many of which save them in photo albums and scrap-books that we’ve purchased for them in the past.

Sick Kids at Odinkovka

Not all the kids have been so lucky during the Easter break. Olya Kotova and Vera Galkina had hernia problems and had to go into hospital for surgery. The surgery went well for the girls but they were feeling a bit worse for wear when they returned to the orphanage.

The girls were required to wear face masks after the surgery to try to prevent them from picking up any bugs that were on the go in the orphanage. One such victim to illness was Anya Aleschenko who came out in a nasty rash. The problem was traced to an infection in her liver, which was causing the rash, so the Dnipro Appeal ensured she was given a bag full of medicines to help sort the problem. News from Ira is that she is on the road to recovery. We also had Olya Gilyeva at the opticians getting her eyes tested for a new pair of glasses.

Nastya Devyatova continues with her rehabilitation process following her hip surgery. She spent the later part of March in a local hospital for some intensive physiotherapy but was allowed to return to Odinkovka during the Easter holidays to spend time with her friends. The orphanage nurse will continue her physiotherapy and leg massage treatment whilst she is in the orphanage.

Summer Camp for Tabachnaya Orphanage

It is hoped that the Dnipro Appeal will be able to fund a summer camp trip for the kids at the Tabachnaya orphanage. Unfortunately the kids there are not all sponsored so the costs will need to come from alternative funding. To send all the kids from Tabachnaya to the sea for a summer break will cost around £200 per day but we are hopeful that fundraising events over the next couple of months will allow us to send the kids to a summer camp for at least a week.

We already have Steven Nicole, Nicola Gormley and Scott Sinclair utilising the Just Giving website for their sponsored events so please visit their respective Just Giving web pages if you want to help out.

http://www.justgiving.com/dniproappeal/raisemoney

Feel free to set up your own page if you have a sponsored event coming up this year and you’d like to have the Dnipro Appeal as your chosen charity.


Yours,
Steven Carr,
Dnipro Appeal Committee.
www.dniprokids.com

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