Father Frost

Today was one of those days the reminds me that I'm in the right place doing the right thing.  It is really hard to make this trip and be so far away from my family back in Frederick.  However, God has put me in this position and provided me the resources to do what we did today. 

The day started off just like most other days here in Belarus.....with snow, snow and more snow.  I can probably count the number of minutes it hasn't snowed since my arrival. 

We had three goals for today, the first was to pick up Olya and bring her back to Mogilev where she will be with Krystina and I until I leave.  The second was to bring bags of candy to ABRO children from their host families back in the USA (I was responsible for taking pictures of the children with the candy so that ABRO can send it to the host family).  The third and most impactful was to go shopping for food for four families in Olya's village (I can't pronounce the name of the village and I certainly can't spell it).  We would provide each family with a New Years feast that will probably last them more than a week.  In addition to providing the food I took pictures of children that really need the help of the ABRO program and would like to try to find host families for this summer. 

I left the ARK house and picked up Joe, Frank and Vadim.  The first stop was the bank to change some American money into Belarussian rubles.  Next was the grocery store, which was about 1/10 the size of a typical American grocery store.  We bought hams, sausage string, bread, cheese, bananas, oranges and candy for each of the four families we will be visiting.  The total bill came to about 200,000 rubles, which is approximately $65 dollars. 

Once we were loaded up with our supplies we piled into Sasha's van for the 45 minute drive on snow covered roads.  With us on the trip was Lena who works in the ABRO office, I've always referred to her as ABRO Lena.  ABRO Lena is somewhat of a miracle worker, she helps identify the children that need the most help and tries to find American families for these children, in addition to that she helps plan the summer program and arranges my schedule while I'm in Belarus.  She does a fantastic job and is always extremely helpful.  Also with us was Bobbie who looks a lot like Santa Claus, Leah a young girl from Louisiana and of course Frank, Joe and Vadim. 

When we arrived in the village it was snowing even harder than it was in the city.  The village streets bordered on undrivable.  We almost got stuck a couple of times, but Sasha was able to keep us on the road.  At least I think it was a road, there really was no way to tell.

One of the first stops was Olya's house.  She lives in a small house with her dad, step mom and two step sisters.  They would like to find a host family for Olya's step sister, Katia who is 8 years old.   If she is half as sweet at Olya she would be wonderful to host.  I briefly spoke with her dad and step mom, we didn't have much time as Lena was trying to keep us on a tight schedule.  We still have 4 or 5 other families to visit. 

As we pulled up to our next stop, Lena would explain a little about the family and why they were living is such difficult conditions.  Single parents, alcoholism, the parents were orphans and had no opportunity were recurring themes.  All of these people live in extreme poverty, in extreme cold and it's usually the children that suffer the most.  The houses may have looked different on the outside, but they were essentially the same on the inside.  A wood burning stove that was used for cooking and heating the house, no running water and exposed electrical wiring that looks like it was done 75 years ago by someone who knew nothing about electricity.  Most of the houses looked dangerous and could burn down at any moment. 

As we walked up to the first house, Lena asked me if I would play the part of Father Frost and give the family the bag of food we brought.  Father Frost is a mythical character in Belarus and Russia, he is much like Santa Claus and usually has his daughter the Ice Princess with him.  Krystina would be my Ice Princess for the day.  I delivered the bag of goodies to two of the families.  You could tell that they were not used to receiving help and they were at a loss for words at the sight of us.  Imagine a group of 5 adults speaking a different language walking into your house and handing you a big bag of food.  I'm sure it was a strange sight to them, but you can see the gratitude on their faces.  Bobbie played the part of Father Frost for the third house.  He was a natural for the position based on his looks alone.  Then Frank joined in and was the mythical character for the last family.  He seemed to enjoy the role. 

I wish that everyone could visit a place like this just once in their lives and experience what we experienced today.  I think it would help put things into the proper perspective and this world would be a better place for it. 

As the week goes on and I have more experiences like today it will wear on me both physically and emotionally.  I'm praying for the strength I will need to get me through the next week.  Our remaining agenda is going to be both rewarding and difficult.

I just found out a little while ago that Olya, Krystina and I will be spending New Years with my old friends Svetlana and Gena.  They are the parents of the chaperone (also named Lena) who helped our ABRO group in Raleigh for many years.  Lena is married and lives in the U.S. with her husband and daughter.  This family has always been very kind to me and helped me whenever I visit Belarus. 

I will be celebrating New Years seven hours before you.....Happy New Year, I hope you all have a blessed 2011.

Krystina and the 20 pound jar of honey

I woke up this morning at 8:00 after getting a good night sleep.  Felt like a new person and I've put complaining about the travel behind me.  It was no surprise to see it snowing when I looked out the window.  There must have been 6 to 8 inches that fell over night and it was still snowing hard.  The thought of driving 2 hours each way to pick up Krystina wasn't a pleasant one. 

I hired a driver to take me and an interpreter to Drebin, actually ABRO arranged it all, I just had to pay him.  It was well worth the $40 since he was with me from 11:00 to after 5:00 and successfully navigated the snow covered roads with ease.  Anastasia would be my interpreter for the day, everyone calls her Nastia for short.   (Another very common name here)

After arriving in Drebin, Krystina met us at the bus station.  The look of joy on her face when she saw me made the long trip worth while.  She took us back to her foster mom's house.  I did a very poor job of getting pictures or video of the house, I needed my help from my companion from last year, Elaine.  She was great at helping me to document our experiences.  Unfortunately I was on my own today and could only manage to take a few pictures.  The house was a nice place for Belarussian standards.  Krystina shares a room with two other foster children, Leeza (8), and Victoria (15).  Although I didn't get to see them, they also have pigs, chickens, a cow for milk and cats and dogs.  Maria told me that they rarely have to go to the store to buy food.  She grows and bakes everything they need, or it is provided by the animals they keep.  (Krystina refuses to milk the cow)

Maria is a rare woman who raised three children of her own, farms, manages farm animals and is raising three foster children.  I'm convinced there isn't anything she can't do.

Maria was very nice and we had a long discussion about Krystina.  She is concerned for Krystina's future and wants to help her.  With the help of Nastia, I talked to Maria for over an hour.  Actually, I mostly listened.  She told me many things I already knew about Krystina from having her live with us for 6 weeks every summer for 7 years.  She also told me some things that I didn't know.  She asked that I not buy Krystina a cell phone (I had no plans to) because she would just use it to talk to boys and would get in trouble....what teenage girl doesn't want a cell phone to talk to boys??  Trouble is something that Krystina doesn't need in her life right now.  She will have plenty of tough decisions and difficulties to deal with next August when she is too old for foster care. 

The most shocking piece of information Maria gave me concerned Krystina's real mother.  Over the years we had heard many stories of what happened to her mother.  Getting accurate information is very difficult here for many reasons, not least of which they don't seem to do a great job keeping records.  At one point we heard her mother died, another time we heard her mother was in prison.  In either case, Krystina had been in the orphanage since age 3 and has very few memories of her mother.  The most notable that she has told us about was how her mother burned Krystina's arm which she still has the scare today.  Well, Maria told me that her mother was out of prison for 5 days now.  I guess she is alive and the prison story was true, and she is probably living in Bobruisk in the flat that was supposed to be Krystina's when she got out of trade school.  It would definitely not be a good idea for Krystina to have any contact with her mom.  This creates many additional problems for Krystina that she nor us have thought about.  That flat in Bobruisk was Krystina's only hope for a place of her own to live.  Now, who knows what she will do.  Please join me in praying for Krystina.  This would be a great time for some divine intervention.  What happens to many of these children who age out of foster care and have no place to go is not a pleasant thought and something I don't want to think about right now. 

The roads were getting worse by the minute so it was time to say goodbye to Maria and head back to Mogilev.  As we were getting ready to leave, Maria gave me a couple of Russian chocolate bars to take to Grace and Jay.  In addition to the chocolate, she gave me a jar of honey.  This is not your typical jar of honey.  Apparently Maria also has honey bees that she keeps.  This gigantic jar of honey must weigh 20 pounds, and I have no idea if it is even legal to bring it back to the U.S.  Anyone up for a honey party when I get home???

Tomorrow is going to be another busy and exciting day.  Frank and Joe will be joining me for the trip to Olya's village.  I am looking forward to spending some time with my old buddies as they have been staying at Vadim's house and I haven't seen them.  We will be meeting with several ABRO children to help hand out gifts and candy from their American host families.  Then Olya will come back with us to Mogilev to stay until I leave. 

Calm before the storm

To say that it's been a long day would be an understatement.  A more accurate statement would be that it's been two long days.  All I can say is that people that travel between the U.S. and Europe on a regular basis and sit in coach are tough as nails.  After experiencing this trip I am amazed how well the ABRO chaperones are able to manage this difficult task while being responsible for anywhere from 10 to 20 children. 

Yesterday started off well enough.  After failing to pack everything I was bringing into one suitcase I had resigned myself to paying the extra bag fee of $50.  Much to my surprise the ticketing agent looked at me and said, "you know I'm supposed to charge you for your second bag........but I am not charging you today, Happy Holidays."  This was really starting out on the right foot and this went a long way to help with my needed attitude adjustment.

I won't bore you with all the unpleasant details, lets just say being in the back of a plane crammed in and claustrophobic with 4 screaming children for 7 1/2 hours is not my idea of a fun time.  I would have confessed to just about anything if it got me off that plane quicker.  I resorted to the old faithful MP3 player (cranked way up) and some seriously long prayers.  When the guy in front of me reclined his seat to within an inch of my nose I almost lost it (that's when the prayer came in handy).  Then there was the severe turbulence that not only upset me, but it wasn't exactly having a calming effect on all those screamming children. 

After I survived the flight to Frankfurt the rest of the trip was a breeze.  The 2 hour layover, followed by an almost 3 hour flight (we were late leaving) and topped off with a 4 hour bus ride in a snow storm.  (Am I making it sound fun yet?)  I really think my wife, Leslie, should experience this trip just once.  She is always so supportive and encouraging...."Rich, I really think you should to to Belarus this year."

I am certain that I am making it sound worse than it is.  I was still a little sore from my last workout at the Y with my buddies Roger and Stu. Sitting doesn't help the eleviate the soreness.  All those lunges seemed like a good idea at the time.....

Ok, I think I'm over it now, thanks for letting me vent.

It was great to see the happy, excited faces of Natasha and Vadim, who had come to meet us.  Both children had spent last summer with host families in Frederick.  After meeting Vadim's parents it was time to move it along. 

This is a good time to introduce you to a couple of my travel companions.  Frank is along on the trip for the first time.  He is deaf and hosted Vadim who is also deaf.  Joe is back again this year after making the trip with me last year.  A lot of you who live in Frederick would recognize him if you've ever been to the post office on 7th St.  Joe is also deaf and has hosted "little" Krystina for the last 2 years.  The 3 of us will be doing some of the orphanage visits together, however, they will be on their own some of the time.  Like tonight for example.  They both went home with Vadim's parents to spend a few days. 

I am staying at the ARK house for the entire time this year.  The ARK house is a house/office run by ABRO Belarus.  The house part is used to help some of the ABRO children who age out of the orphanages or need a little extra help becoming independent.  The house has several bedrooms where a child can stay for a short time while they assist in finding a job and a place to live.  The ABRO office is on the first floor of the 3 story house.  I am currently staying on the third floor which has four bedrooms and one bathroom.  The house is very nice and probably one of the best places I could stay while in Mogilev.  I am hear by myself and don't mind enjoying one last quiet night before the storm of activity hits tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be going to Drebin (I don't think I spelled it right) to pick up my Krystina.  I refer to her as my Krystina as there are a lot of Krystina's in Belarus.  There are several names that are extremely popular here and it is sometimes hard to keep all the Lena's, Natasha's and Krystina's from getting confused. 

I will be meeting Krystina's new foster mom tomorrow.  It is a very sad story of both mental and physical abuse as to why Krystina has a "new" foster mom.  Leslie and I are very proud of her for having the courage to leave a bad situation and report her old foster mom to the local authorities. 

After that things will start to happen pretty quick and it will be go, go, go for the next 10 days.  So I better try to get some sleep and start the process of adapting to the 7 hour time difference.  Even though I hadnt slept much in the last 2 days, I still feel like it is 3:45 PM instead of 10:45.  Hopefully the Advil PM will help.

Ready to go???

Finally all packed for Belarus.  I failed miserably in trying to pack everything into one suitcase.  I am trusted with bringing many gifts for children that have come to the U.S. over the past several summers.  Their host families have sent all sorts of things for the children.  I really don't mind bringing the gifts, however, it will cost me the extra luggage fee.  I'm sure Lufthansa can really use the extra money.....

Yesterday I was struggling a little with my attitude.  Since then I have received several calls wishing me well on the trip as well as a call from our good friend Linda.  Linda helped remind me that the trip isn't about me, but rather about these precious children that we have the honor to know, love and hopefully help.  It was good to hear from Linda and even though she didn't tell me anything new it was still good to hear it again. 

My attitude is getting a little bit better, however, I am still not looking forward to being packed into a 747 like sardines for such a long flight.  I am certain that I will be OK once we land in Frankfurt.

I will miss my wife and children who are also sacrificing to help make this trip possible.  I know all my friends will look after them while I'm gone.

With any luck the next post will be from Belarus.

Attitude and preparation

Here it is the day before I'm scheduled to leave for Belarus and I am in desperate need of a new attitude and some serious packing.  I am usually a very organized traveler.  I know exactly what I'm doing and what I'm bringing.  Not this time.  I am leaving tomorrow for a 12 day mission trip to Belarus and I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to the trip.  Is it wrong to feel this way? I know that the purpose of the trip is to visit three orphanages, bringing Christmas gifts to the children, establishing a relationship with the orphanage director for the deaf school in Bobruisk, and of course visiting with Krystina, just to name the highlights.  Anyone who knows me has heard me talk about Krystina or has met her when she has spent seven summers with my family.  I almost feel guilty for not being "into" the trip.  I truly believe in the cause that I am working for and have very specific goals I am trying to accomplish during the trip.  Having done this before I know how difficult it is on several levels.  It is a very emotional and physically draining experience. 

I'll try to give some of the background information in future posts, I'm a little short on time right now.....I have to pack.  The basic information is that I'm involved in a Christian relief organization called ABRO (American Belarussian Relief Organization, ABRO.org).  Belarus is a small country of approximately 9.5 million people who have had some difficult things to deal with throughout history.  One third of the population was killed during WWII when the German army marched through Belarus on their way to Moscow....and then back through Belarus a second time when Stalin's army drove them back towards the end of the war.  The effects of WWII is not why I'm involved with the people and children of Belarus.  In 1986, the worst nuclear disaster in history had a devastating effect on the people and will continue to have devastating effects for generations to come.  Chernobyl dumped 70% of its radiation on Belarus...and the children suffer worst of all.  As you can imagine they have many social problems as a result of living in contaminated land.  Mostly, ABRO tries to bring children to the U.S. for a period of six weeks in the summer.  This gives their immune system a chance to recover and potentially adds years to their lives.  

I'll get into the physical and emotional parts another time.  Right now I have to finish packing and spend some precious time with my family. 

I will try to post when I have access to the internet.

Rich