Our Friday started with the much anticipated Wal-Mart shopping trip. Each year, our generous sponsors provide us with $25 gift cards to Wally-world. This is a unique event that pairs an orphan kid up with a volunteer, not a UOO member, to purchase something themselves with their own money. The fun is seeing how a child will choose to spend the card. Some go for that one thing they have wanted; others get the most items that can get with $25. Sometimes the kids buy not for themselves, but for their friends back home. This year’s purchases ran from a single kid getting an MP3 player to another getting a couple of shirts (with a toy attached) and three or four small toy items. Another successful Wal-Mart trip!
After shopping, everyone went to a nearby park to have lunch and await the time for our next event, a movie at the theater. As usually is the case, when a soccer ball comes along on the trip, a game is sure to break out. We played a game of “Four-square” in our down-time.
After shopping, everyone went to a nearby park to have lunch and await the time for our next event, a movie at the theater. As usually is the case, when a soccer ball comes along on the trip, a game is sure to break out. We played a game of “Four-square” in our down-time.
Ms. Yulia, our CBN chaperon
It came time to go see the new movie, Up. The theater was a short two-mile trip from the park, so off we went. We budget our donations accordingly for all the camp’s events, so we were prepared to use funds that have been donated for this event. Imagine our surprise and gratitude when we were told by the movie theater manager that all the children were free of charge for the movie!
The kids loved the movie, even though it was in English. A great deal of it didn’t have dialog anyway, so it was a great choice for them! I love movies, so I watched the whole thing. But, I did look around and I caught a few of our UOO members catching a snooze. The dark theater with the nice air conditioning was the perfect catalyst for some weary but happy UOO workers!
"King" of the Gladiator Joust, Dima
The final event of the day was at my house. That’s right, the annual Rogé Open House. I had rented a blow-up gladiator joust toy to act as a way for adults and children to interact and get to know one another. I learned a valuable lesson in the past from orphans that didn’t have anything to do but eat, watch TV and ride bikes. The idea is to put them and their plight in the spotlight and hopefully raise awareness and interest in adoption of older, at-risk orphans in Ukraine and in the world. Not to have them riding down the street, out-of-sight, while me and our guests talk about the weather. The plan worked and Ms. Heidi & kids did a great job preparing the food and decorating the house. It was a complete success and everyone had a great time. Thanks to everyone who was there physically and in spirit. We hope to see you again next year.
Rogé open house
~ Felix ~
On Saturday we held our annual camp birthday party. If you're not familiar with this event, let me explain. The orphanages in Ukraine only celebrate mass birthdays twice a year and some orphans aren't aware of their birth day. Heidi and I witnessed one such celebration at SB last November. There are no cakes or presents and usually the treat is a bowl of fruit. We at UOO decided a couple of years ago to have our own mass birthday party complete with games, hot dogs, cake, ice cream, presents, punch and even a pinata or two. This pivotal event is remembered by the kids for the rest of their lives. I have had the orphans tell me so on our trips to Ukraine.
Sasha seems a bit concerned that his driver is in the back of the pack. What a cute, angelic face, and a sweet kid!
