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October Update

Ira's Visit To Scotland

During September we had a visit from Dnipro Kids helper, Ira Polyashova. Ira is the main cog in the wheel within the charity and she is in control of everything that happens in Dnipropetrovsk. The Dnipro Appeal Committee felt it was important, on the date of our 4th anniversary, that we bring Ira over to Scotland to show her this end of the charity and to give her an insight into how things are run over here.

Her visit composed of a mixture of Dnipro Appeal related meetings and information seeking meetings with similar minded organisations … and of course a little bit of sightseeing.

During her stay, which lasted close to 3 weeks, she was a guest of the Dnipro Appeal and stayed at the homes of various committee members. This gave Ira the opportunity to view the responsibilities of each committee member and also get an insight into how the charity is run.

During her stay visits were organised to an Edinburgh Family Planning Centre for young people, visits to the Aberlour Children’s Charity (Head Office and Homes) and a visit to the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Centre in Perth. It was hoped that these visits would give Ira an understanding of how organisations in this country dealt with some of the problems that Ira had to deal with in Ukraine. All of the organisations that Ira visited were extremely helpful to the Dnipro Appeal and also provided Ira with lots of information for her to return to Ukraine with.

As well as the work related visits though there was a bit of time for Ira to do a spot of sightseeing and the committee were only too pleased to show off our beautiful country.

Mark Strachan took Ira for a trip down the coast and even let her step onto English soil at Berwick. Susi Morton and John and Jim Divine showed Ira some of the sights of Edinburgh and Midlothian. Robert Brown showed Ira around Stirling and also took a trip through Fife and on to St Andrews. Steven Carr showed Ira around Perth and took a trip through Glenshee and Braemar on the way to Aberdeenshire.

Ira was fairly overawed with the trips and commented, on numerous occasions, how much she enjoyed her trip to Scotland.

Predniprovsk TB Sanatorium, Water Distiller

Last month the Dnipro Appeal funded the installation of a new water filter for the Predniprovsk TB Sanatorium. The water filter, which is used to distil the tap water of potentially harmful bacteria, is a vital piece of equipment for the centre. It is very important that the TB suffering children at the centre are kept away from harmful germs and bacteria in the fight to get them back to full health.

As part of the ceremony, that saw the handover of the water filter, the children and staff put on a show for the benefit of the Dnipro Appeal representatives. It was obvious that a lot of time had gone into the production which just goes to show how appreciative everyone is of the Dnipro Appeal and its sponsors. With the staff dressing up in national costumes for some singing and the children learning English for a performance that ranged from children’s nursery rhymes to “if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” it was a truly humbling experience.

Predniprovsk TB Sanatorium, School Items and Winter Clothes

As well as the water distiller mentioned above the TB Sanatorium also received some important items for the schooling of the children. For those that might not already know, the schooling of the children is actually done within the TB Sanatorium for the 6 months that the children are present. Because the primary concern (and ultimately State funding) is the health of the children, the classrooms are probably not as well stocked as a proper school might be. This is an area that the Dnipro Appeal has always tried to assist with over the years with reading material, blackboards, notebooks etc. being donated by the charity. Thanks to your continued support we were of course able to fund this request.

With the winter months upon us, and temperatures likely to drop to around -20 in Ukraine, we also had a request from the director of the TB Sanatorium for some thermal tights and stockings for the younger children. Although not all of the children at the TB Sanatorium are orphans, most of them do come from very poor homes. We have in the past helped out with warm clothing for the TB Sanatorium so we had no hesitation in funding this request and getting the tights delivered as soon as possible.

Tabachnaya Boys Playing Football

This update is a bit late, due to a delay in getting the photos, but having football content I thought I had better make sure that it is added. During September some of the boys from the Tabachnaya orphanage were invited along to a small football tournament. The boys at Tabachnaya love their football and, despite their circumstances, some have developed into quite good players for their age levels.

The Dnipro Appeal were able to help out a little, providing a new pair of goalkeeping gloves for the team as well as providing a plenty of water bottles to keep them hydrated during the tournament.

Despite being much younger than most of the opposition the Tabachnaya boys dug in and played really well to win their first couple of games. The photo above shows Pasha Kolganov scoring the winner in their second game.

Unfortunately they went out in their next game to a much bigger and stronger side. They did put in a good performance though and tested the opposition keeper, who had an outstanding game, on a number of occasions.

Orphanage Trips

There was a trip organised for Odinkovka orphange in September. During this time a floating “Aquarium” was docked in Dnipropetrovsk and we felt it was an excellent opportunity for the birthday trips. For the Odinkovka kids we organised a full trip for all the kids at the orphanage.

Inside the Aquarium were all sorts of fish (including sharks!) and on the top deck were other animals and reptiles such as monkeys and alligators. The kids really enjoyed the trips and had obviously never been so close to so many interesting fish and animals.

Because the Odinkovka kids had such a great time there we followed it up with two birthday trips for the kids at the Tabachnaya orphanage.

For the Tabachnaya trips the visit to the floating Aquarium was also followed up with a trip to McDonalds where each of the children were presented with a selection of birthday gifts.

Once I have all the photos from the birthday trips processed I will be providing the sponsors of each of the children with a more comprehensive update.

Unfortunately the floating Aquarium has now left the city and headed up river, but with winter drawing in I’m sure that the kids may appreciate a trip to a nice warm cinema a little bit better.

England Invades

The recent visit of England to Ukraine for their World Cup qualifier saw some England fans visit our Odinkovka orphanage. It was an occasion that saw some of the “top brass” in Dnipropetrovsk attending and the kids were treated to gifts and Ukraine football strips. The organiser of the England supporters contacted the Dnipro Appeal prior to their visit asking what gifts they might be able to take to Odinkovka and, based on our recommendation, were able to provide small gifts, t-shirts, baseball caps and proper leather footballs.

The boys also played a football match on the orphanage football pitch for the benefit of their guests.

I’m not sure what the score was in this game but, for those that may need reminding, the National team beat England 1-0. This fantastic result set Ukraine up for a play-off place against Greece and a chance to progress to the World Cup finals. Unfortunately Ukraine were unable to improve on an excellent away draw and went out on the away goals rule after a 1-1 draw at home.

Swine Flu Epidemic

We have already received requests from both Odinkovka and Tabachnaya for flu and cold medications. Orphanages and schools are currently in a quarantine like shutdown, with movement of children restricted. This means that there is unlikely to be any birthday trips during November. We are hoping that this will be lifted in time for Christmas.


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

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