Wet Cement, New Computers and Palm Trees?

Just for fun I took a few pictures on our walk to the orphanage this morning.  They don’t seem to have any sort of re-cycling program here, but it is amazing what some people can do with empty pop bottles.

I didn’t expect to find Palm Trees in Chausy … or flowers in the snow:

Dan found it interesting that they have such elaborate  fretwork on many of the houses:

and a lot of very bright colours!

Everyone is very busy trying to get as much completed as they can before the contents of the containers are released.  We are still hopeful that this will happen on Friday so we can start deliveries over the weekend.  Several of the delegates have been traveling around visiting with families, dropping off and picking up letters and having our interpreters translate them for us.

Prior to leaving Canada I had gone through all of the pictures that I have taken on my previous 6 trips and pulled out all of the ones taken of children at the orphanage.  I then had copies printed for each child in the picture and then attempted to sort them into groups by child.  With over 400 pictures and trying to figure out which child was which, as they changed over the years, it became a daunting task!  Today I sought out my friend Kristina.  She has been living in the orphanage for years and is now 15.  She always seeks me out whenever we arrive and we have become good friends.  I found her in the gymnasium with the music teacher practicing for the concert.  Kristina is on the right.

Kristina and the teacher helped me sort through them in no time and Kristina volunteered to hand them out to the children.  The few that were around just loved the pictures, most of them commented that they hardly recognized themselves when they were younger.  One girl was crying tears of joy at having a few pictures of herself over the years!  Makes it all worth the effort!

Meanwhile outside, our crew of David Campbell, Murray and Cole Ferguson and Dan McKenzie were hard at it getting the first load of cement in the forms for the pad for the Poultry Barn.  The local cement plant could not supply to our specifications so it had to be trucked from Mogilev approximately 40 minutes away.

In the computer room Dave Shaw made a presentation of a new laptop computer to the music teacher.  It is to be used for their music program as well as presentations.  The children will have access to it for these purposes.  The music teacher was extremely happy as she had been using her own personal computer and it was getting old and slow.

We also presented a brand new desktop computer for the computer classroom.  This one will be connected to the internet and be exclusively for the children to use.  It’s main function will be for the new “e-pals” project mentioned in yesterdays blog as well as for research for projects and school work.

As soon as it was hooked up, Stephen MacKinnon wasted no time in getting Yulia setting up the next series of e-pal messages to Canada.  From the left, Vika (interpreter and one time resident of the orphanage), Katia, Stephen and Yulia.

With the ground thawing out, the trucks are making quite a mess of the ground next to the new Poultry Barn!

But our guys managed to get the final work done on the pad.

Tomorrow morning they will build the forms for the curb that will support the walls, and they have to complete them before the cement arrives at noon.  Looks like an early start for these guys!

Everyone keep your fingers crossed that we get our shipment released tomorrow!

Eric McKenzie

2 thoughts on “Wet Cement, New Computers and Palm Trees?

  1. connie lou sebast

    As a Mom of an adopted child, I know how precious the few pictures that they had of Gorsha were and are to us. What a great guy you are Eric!!

  2. margie

    fingers crossed – great looking cement, guys !!
    what a marvelous idea of the pictures for the kids as they grew up.
    and i love those palm trees!

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