Mission Trip Summer 2011

Well, I never packed so much into three days since leaving for the Ukraine a few days ago!I have already flown into Moscow, then Kiev, taken a 9 hour car ride on VERY BUMPY ROADS to Ternipol, visited a Bebico, a preschool program for children with Down Syndrome and other delays, consulted for some individual children and demonstrated intervention techniques, visited and toured a rehab center, a hospital center, had lunch with Pastor Vladimir and his lovey wife Oksana and son Zacharia, visited a building being constructed for their ministry to children with special needs, and presented at a seminar to a group of parents and professionals in Ternipol on Early Intervention Strategies to enhance the development of young children with special needs. After taking a tour of the beautiful town of Ternipol, I boarded a train for the 8 hour trip back to Kyiv. After being picked up at the train station and a quickmeal at McDonald's,I arrived at the Hotel Spa in Vorzel where our team decided to stay this time to offset our hectic schedule! Then it was off to the orphanage to visit with the children and start work on the playground.During a relaxing dinner, on the water edge (!) we got to meet the other members of our humanitarian team, and rest up for the upcoming week. Our team consists of Pastor Sasha and his wife Olya, myself, an Early Intervention Specialist and Parent Advocate, Rachel Haas, a Graduate student, Dan Peters, a missionary and self proclaimed 'baby freak', who is the father of 16, whose 2 youngest were adopted from the Ukraine, a couple from Norway, and Stephen, a lawyer and President of a local Down Syndrome Group. Our goal is to provide support through the continued construction of the playgrounds in Vorzel, and services to the children and staff. We will also be meeting the Head of the local Parents group in Kyiv to begin a collaboration of support for the local families. We will be visiting a level 4 orphanage in Znamenka and distributing donated toys and materials. Our group is gathering information on specific needs of orphanages, parent groups , centers, schools and hospitals, with the intention on gathering therapeutic equipment in the states and sending a shipping a cargo crate for distribution this fall! We have already had specific requests for standers, Rifton Gait trainers, hippotherapy equipment (more on this later), motorized chairs for young adults, tubchairs, and classroom materials! More posts with pictures tomorrow!