Week 2: The Iarosh Family

Good day, everyone!

Last week, we were in Odessa working with The Way Home, an orphanage for various street kids. Over the weekend, we did some sightseeing and prepared for our next destination: Lviv. Now, we're here, and it has been an absolutely amazing experience!

Since we came here, we knew we would be working with a family who has adopted several orphans throughout the years. Now, they have 10 children, in addition to two adult sons. Th entire family is absolutely incredible!! From the beginning, the children were incredibly happy to see Chelsea and I, and they love playing with us. In addition, they have taught us some Ukrainian words and games during our stay. They live with their parents and grandmother, and they go out of their way to make sure that we're well-fed and doing well!

The purpose of our visit to their home is to show the kids that people care a lot about them. It has been tough to hear some of the stories of the children before they were adopted by these loving parents. It has been tougher to see some of the pictures of the children when they lived in state orphanages or on the streets. It baffles me how people can abandon kids in such deplorable conditions. What spoke to me the most was the story of little Nastya, who was fed alcohol and cigarette ashes by her real parents before she was brought into her current home. Also, Nataliia, their mother, showed us pictures of some state orphanages yesterday, where children are tied to their beds and left unatended. It was tough to watch for Chelsea and I.

Pavlo and Soryanna, two of the children adopted by the Iarosh family.

This is Nastya, who is always smiling.

Although there is a lot of sadness in their pasts, I am absolutely glad that these children have found a loving home. Nataliia and Yuriy have gone out of their way to provide for these children, and one can see that they're doing absolutely better. Irene said that it's best that they forget their past, and I completely agree. There is no need to remember what is hurtful. Now that they have a loving home, I believe that is all that matters. FCEE gave them a donation, and the parents are very happy to use that money to buy medicine and rehabilitation equipment for Soryanna and Pavlo. All the children get along very well and they're always happy. I am also glad to see little Nastya's smiling face everyday. My favorite is little Ivan, who has grown fond of me, and he always has a lot of energy and a fun personality to complement it!

As a sign of thanks, the children made two pictures for us.

Today, we are leaving for the Carpathian Mountains, where this family gathers with other families who have adopted and they have a lot of fun events! We'll try to keep in contact from there! Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the children from the past couple of days!

The children wanted to put together a model of the Eiffel Tower with us. It was a success!

Until later,

Alex