It was a long journey but our group of 5 made it safely. There are a few more coming home over the next few weeks and hope they also have an uneventful trip.
On the way home from Toronto Jonathan asked me if I had any favourite moments. There were many! Being my second trip I knew what to expect and wasn’t as overwhelmed as the first trip. This allowed me to look a little further and dig a little deeper. I had the opportunity to interview several Belarussians while there to get their perspective on what we are doing. It was very satisfying to hear them express, from their perspective, what the impact of our organization has been. They all appreciate our efforts and all had no difficulty pointing to the many positive effects of our programs. I will be posting video from my trip, including parts of these interviews, both on this site as well as the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl website over the coming months, so please check back periodically.
As for special moments from this trip:
– the Orphanage Concert was once again outstanding
– the Hockey and skating at the Mogilev Ice Palace
– spending time with my Belarusian family
– spotting the Mother of a disabled girl, that a group from my work sponsor, and seeing her face light up when she recognized me, then having her run over to hug me
Here she is with her son, daughter-in-law, grandaughter and a friend.
– meeting a woman with 26 children (22 adopted) and feeling the love in that household
Look at the books on the right side of the picture, there were 100’s in this home.
I could go on and on. It was a lot of work and many long days and late nights but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. This is only one of many places in the world where people need help and if everyone of us does even one small thing to help someone somewhere than we ARE making a difference!
Why these people, through this organization? These people are in this situation through no fault of their own and this organization has no overhead! When you give a dollar to this organization the whole dollar gets to the people who need it … I know because I delivered that dollar! If you really want to help someone and make a difference, find a local charity and then find out how much of your donation will get to those who need it.
OK, I’m off my soapbox. I managed to get that video on the tractor equipment uploaded since I am home so please click here to return to that post and view it.
Eric