"P Score": Language, and other challenges spanning 7 time zones: Give A Kid A Camera…

Yesterday, I went for my monthly visit to the orphanage. I would love to go more often, but unfortunately, it is in the next village to mine and there is no regular transportation there or back on Sundays. I understand that there is a limited mid-week bus that allows residents to make it to the rayon center (where I live) to go to the doctor or bazaar or stores. But, on Sunday’s, there is nothing. Luckily for me, the sauna is located in the same town, so my Sunday sauna ride helps me get there for free…then I only have to get home by myself. I have a taxi that I can call (or text) whenever I need a ride. It is relatively cheap, but it is a flat rate. Paying this once a month, one way is certainly workable. Paying more frequently could become cost prohibitive. Since I only go once a month, I have time to think about projects to do with them. Sometimes we play games, sometimes I give them magazines and they flip through them franticly looking for the latest in American fashion and things that interest today’s teens. The last few times I have brought foods to introduce them to. First was banana bread, then brownies, and this month was peanut butter. All three were real hits and they even write about these foods to their new pen pals. With the help of some very generous kids in America as well as here in Ukraine, I have set up a little pen pal program with the kids at the orphanage. At first, there seemed to be a bit of shyness on the part of the kids here. No one wanted to write their own letters and everyone agreed it would be better to write one letter together by dictating what they wanted to say to one transcriber. This plan worked well, until I got one or two that were not involved in this group plan. Since my Russian is still poor- although improving, I don’t always know why they are not participating. Do they not want to? Are they fighting with someone who is involved and just want to remove themselves from the conflict? Were they asked to leave for making inappropriate suggestions to be included in the letters? Whatever the reason, I see individuals who are interested enough to come and spend time with me on a Sunday afternoon, but aren’t participating. When trying to come up with some new ideas for them to work on, I was able to convince two of the boys that if they wanted to write an individual letter to the kids in America, they could. They did. Well, the letters from America have come back and now everyone sees that they can get letters to them personally. So, today when we read the letters from America and needed to get a response, several jumped at the chance to write a private letter in hopes of getting a private one in return. Now, I just have to work on getting them translated before sending them off to America!
I could mention here that there is a project called World Wise Schools which is available for volunteers to be involved with. After your application is accepted to the WWS program, volunteers are paired with a class in America where the kids can learn more about the country being served and possibly get students interested in the work of Peace Corps. I did not apply to be part of this program, although I know others who have- with mixed success. Some volunteers have regular Skype sessions with their classes while others are working on a pen pal program. Conversely, some of the school teachers in America have lost interest and the program becomes a back-burner project for both volunteer and school. Ironically, my self-directed pen pal program seems to be gaining momentum and should continue to grow as more kids in America hear about the project and want to get involved. In fact, if anyone reading this knows an 8-16 year old that would like to be part of my letter writing project let me know and I can send details.

As usual, I brought my camera to the orphanage yesterday and at one point I gave the camera to the kids to have them take pictures of each other and of me with them. It has taken a few months, but I have a feeling that there is a genuine happiness when I come around. I don’t think they get too many visitors and just a change from the monotony of life in the home has got to be refreshing. Some of them look bored as the sit thumbing the pages of the magazines, but by the end all is good and they all tell me they look forward to my next visit. These kids are great, and I hope these pictures show a little bit of that.

Lastly, once again, a big “thank you” to the American and Ukrainian kids who write letters to my friends at the orphanage and also to the translators who help us. Without all of you, this project would not be able to succeed.

Sim