Feed the mind update

Thanks to the generous donations to the Feed the Mind program at Internat Mykolaivka, we have been able to purchase 80 new books for the 2nd Shipment to Myko for $500.00 which included shipping. These books consisted of: The Harry Potter Series, The Golden Compass Series, The Spiderwick Chronicles and various Series of books of Russian / Ukrainian authors - Tanya Grotter (Nancy Drew type) and Golden Dog Series (Zolotoi Pes.)

Thanks to all to bringing us closer to completing the Internat Myko Library..

New Sponsorship program at Myko

An Orphan smiles is pleased to announce that it has launched the KIDS and GAP sponsorship programs at Myko. Both programs have some students available for sponsorship and details can be found on the website or by e-mailing Stephanie for the KIDS program at Myko_Crail@yahoo.com or Rachael for the GAP program at rachaeld@anorphansmiles.org

Collection Effort - Essential Program

An Orphan Smiles would like to recognize St Basil School of Kimberton, PA for their collection effort this past week.
The school thru the Student Council sponsors a 'dress down" day where the students are permitted to wear clothes other than their usual school uniform if they participate in the designated Charitable event. The focus of this service activity was the Orphans in Ukraine and each class was assigned a different item or items to collect.

The results of this collection effort were amazing especially considering that St. Basil is a small school with only one classroom K-8 per grade.

Listed below are the items that were delivered to An Orphan Smiles and will be sent to Kiev Orphanage 12, Tsuripinsk and Mykolaivka in February.

23 boxes of cereal or boxes of granola/cereal bars
17 boxes of bandaids
18 coloring books
26 boxes of crayons
15 Paint by number sets
19 Hair accessories
17 Hair brushes
35 bottles of shampoo/conditioner
24 tubes of toothpaste
64 toothbrushes
11 deoderant
2 sewing kits
130+ bars of soap
4300 Q-tips
8 Facial Scrub products
15 bottles of lotion

Our Essential program focuses on providing hygiene items such as many of the items listed above. We hope to fill out these boxes with toilet paper and feminine products as well. Thanks to those who have already contributed to this worthwhile program to make this possible.

Update on "feed the mind"

We have reached another milestone for the Book Project at Myko. A few days ago we reached the $1000 mark. We are thrilled that we are already a third of the way towards our goal of filling the shelves of the library at Myko.

Please consider a donation towards our "Feed the Mind" Project. A book costs on average $5 and will give every student the opportunity to travel through the pages to places like Hogwarts and Narnia. Details for donating can be found in the "Donate a Smile" section of the website.

Photo's of the Kiev trip

Here is the link for the photo's of the Myko kids trip to Kiev.

http://anorphansmiles1.shutterfly.com/

Myko kids in Kiev (day 3)

Here is Bogdan's recap of day three. The kids sound like they had a blast. We at An Orphan Smiles are looking forwards to the next feed the soul trip.


Today the Myko group went to the Dyvosvit (Wonderland) family recreation center and enjoyed several hours of fun playing archade games, going on varous rides, winning prizes etc. Boys finally got a chance to do some laser and video gun shooting. The 4D theater was a big hit and some of the children even tried to keep the glasses (in hopes to make things come alive once they go back to Mykolaivka, I guess. :) After everyone ran out of money on their cards, they all enjoyed another dozen of rides on the escalator.
After the group came back to Orphanage 12 they had a farewell lunch with home-made pies made by Orphanage 12 staff. Everyone got a small present - a soccer ball, a small radio, a watch etc. Everyone seemed to be happy with what they got. We also gave boxes of chocholates to the Orphanage 12 staff who have been cooking and escorting the children during these 3 days.
At 4.30 p.m. we all went to the train station. Jane Slavcore, who just arrived from Australia today, came to say 'hello' to Valentina and the group, which was a very nice surprise. The kids were very happy to see her.
I think I have told you everything. Once again, an enourmous thank you to everyone who made this trip a reality. The amount of positive emotions that the children received during these 3 days is invaluable.

Thanks again everyone!
Bogdan

Myko kids in Kiev (day 2)

Here is Bogdan's update of day 2.

Another exciting day in Kiev for Myko children. After having pancakes with hot tea for breakfast the group went to the movies to see Bedtime Stories. The movie theater is one of the newest one in Kiev, located in a big shopping mall with lots of nice stores, water fountains and - most importantly - escalators! The children enjoyed the movie and then took about 50 rides up and down the escalators. It was a good training before taking the metro...
Then the children had lunch at McDonalds. Everybody got a happy meal and a toy. The real fun part began outside when all the children wanted to play on the playground which designed for very young children. It was quite a picture - a crowd of wild teenagers going down the slides together with 2 and 3 year olds.
The group then ventured out to the downtown area on the metro. The ride on the metro was an adventure in itself, as on Day 1.
The weather was much warmer today, so the walk around the city center was very comfortable and fun. The children got to see the country's largest Christmas tree, a lot of nice stores, buildings and churches.
At 4 p.m. the group went to a dolphin show. Of course, it was no Sea World but the children were thrilled to see live dolphins, sea lions and other sea animals for the first time in their lives.
Tired but excited the group returned to Orphanage 12 at 7.30 p.m. and had a nice dinner, prepared by Orphanage 12 volunteers.
Alyosha had to drive Valentina and 4 smallest/weakest children all day - it was too hard for them to do so much walking. In general, one of my observations is that many Myko children are very weak and unhealthy. Several kids vomited after being on the bus or metro, some got tired very easily, one kid had fever today, another had a severe allergy reaction to food. We have never had to deal with so many health issues with children from any other orphanage.

Tomorrow the group will be going to a family fun center to watch a 4D movie, take a ride through Dinosaure Land, play games, etc. Kids love that place.
More to come (including photos)....