Monthly Archives: December 2007

Neil’s GAP Trip – October 2, 2007

This is the 4th post from Neil Matheson’s trip to Belarus in October 2007

October 2nd

We all meet at the administration building for an official greeting from Mayor Anatoli Matyulin. From here we go to the hospital and meet with Doctors Galina and Galinda. Following greetings we are given a tour of the hospital with a focus on the operating rooms that will be greatly helped by funds from Don and Shirley Green. Intensive care, pediatrics, geriatrics, kitchen and laundry are all included in this tour. Back to Galinda’s office for coffee and snacks.

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Tour of construction at Hospital

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The Greens with Hospital Staff

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Shirley Green

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Food in the kitchen

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In the Hospital Laundry

Next stop is the Chausy Orphanage where the delegation is greeted, of course, by the children giving speeches and offering bread and salt (beautifully costumed and well presented).

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We are given a tour of the school and see that many initiatives have been started or actually completed since the spring visit. New doors, windows, counseling room, sewing room, home economics/party room, are installed. The new medical renovations are well under way and the records of health and diet for each individual child are some of the very impressing developments we are shown.

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The overall impression is that Vitali has done a huge amount of work to move the renovations forward and is totally focused on achieving maximum benefit to the well-being of his children. Praise and encouragement are the tools he uses to develop the best in every child. He is a remarkable Director dedicated to his job.

Finally, worked through the last of the registration process then met with Big Irina to plan for the Day of the Angel party and choose families for Shirley and Ellen to visit. Mihail drives us to Acinovka to see Tagayeva Zhenya and to Galocheva to meet little Yekaterina Vavilova, mom Svieta and dad Anatoli for the first time. We drop off Shirley and Ellen at Garavaya’s for dinner and return to visit with Drazdova Yulia and plan the remainder of the trip with Irina Denisyenko.

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Yulia Drazdova