Fun times in Odessa

I've been back in Odessa, Ukraine for the last two weeks working and have one more week before I head back to Canada. I always love being here. The girls at Hope House, a group home for girls from orphanages funded by World Hope Canada, are great. There are a bunch of new girls here, even since July when I was last here. I have enjoyed getting to know the new girls and reconnect with the old girls (by old I mean that they have lived here longer, in reality, they are all younger than 20).

Between work and hanging out with the girls at Hope House (Дом Надежды), I've had a good amount of fun and mischief :) Here are some of my highlights :)

I really like it when we all eat together. This usually happens only on a Sunday for lunch. 

It can be somewhat overwhelming with sometimes 30 people coming for lunch! Nonetheless, it's fun :)

I got to meet with our foster families. This is one of our three families. 

They have adapted well and they will soon have two more girls living with them for our project!

With Sheldon visiting (my boss), we were able to take out the whole LifeStart team for supper. 

It was a great time to hang out, get to know each other, and talk a bit of shop :) 

I've been able to help Ashley teach the girls English a couple nights a week while I'm here. This can be a sometimes educational time, and often a rambunctious time :) We've caught the girls in a calm moment here :)

Every night the girls gather together for announcements and just to touch base. 

Here they are clumping together to receive their transportation money for the next day. 

Teaching them responsible spending can be a long road. Lina does a great job, though :) 

I visited the only orphanage we were able to work in in Odessa city (the rural orphanages seem more keen on anything we have to offer, but city orphanages, for whatever reason, aren't as keen). 

This is one of the classrooms where we teach life skills. Pretty rudimentary, but functional nonetheless.

 Kostya, our project coordinator, showing collages with two students that

the class had made the previous week.

Ya, so I let one of the girls straighten my hair... then she gave me this rocking 80s hairstyle. 

It's only because they don't have parents that I let them do this to me... :)

And here we are at a rural orphanage where we work. This director was so keen on the project that he wanted it taught to children in grades 8,9,10, and 11! Here is Alyona teaching about trust.

This orphanage had been under quarentine for the last 2 months (it was only chicken pox, nothing to worry about), so this was the first time we were able to teach here. So far the kids love it! :)

Kostya pretending to work, but not fooling me one bit! :)

Some of the orphanages are quite a distance out of the city. This one was 2 hours away and they wanted us to teach at 830 am. We convinced them to 930, which still meant a 7am departure...ON A SATURDAY! :) Needless to say, coffee was essential :)

The village Andreevna Ivanovka where this particular orphanage is located. Not a lot going on around here... But still quite a pretty location. 

And then, on Sunday, the girls got to go skating. Most of them had never been before. No matter how many times they fell, they still loved it and were laughing and playing. It was great :) 

Here is Yana catching the falling Marina... or at least easing the fall :)

Vika, holding on rather tightly to the boards, but still managing a stylish pose as always :)

Ashley, our resident American, and Nastya :) We from North America were somewhat more comfortable skaters than our Ukrainian counter parts, which resulted us dragging them around the ice, holding them up, and catching them when they fell for much of the evening :)

 

Yana and Nadya holding on for dear life :)

Still smiling after a mighty spill :)

The whole crew :) A few kids from a local village came out as well. Were were 25 people in all, a daunting crowd, which totally dominated the rink :) It was a great time :)

Then off to McDonalds for a further treat. McDonalds is a big deal here and the girls were pretty pumped :)

Tanya and Nadya who found some balloons somewhere... I have no idea where... :)

Ashley and Jason, our resident Americans who have been here helping out at Hope House for 5 months. They are leaving in 2 weeks, so the skating and McDonalds was their treat to the girls.
It was a great idea. Everyone had a wonderful time :)

Marina, a wonderful and hilarious girl... who also managed to find a balloon somewhere... 

these are resourceful kids! :)

Tanya and Lena (who straightened my hair) loving their Big Mac meals :) And for the record, these are teenagers can seriously pack it away! :)

Katya, Nastya, and Vika chowing down :)

Lina, the house mom, and two girls from a nearby village who joined in the festivities, Olya and Vika.

Anya and the boys, all digging in, despite the cold temperature (around zero degrees!)

So, I really enjoy just looking at stuff here in Ukraine: people, places, buildings, cars, adds, everything. Here's some fairly random videos, mostly lacking in context, of driving around in Ukraine :)

So that's all for now. I have one more week, and a busy week it will be! Hopefully I'll have another blog, but I'll try not to subject you to these random videos so much :) Perhaps it is my memories of them that makes them good to me, but maybe they are only good to me :)