Now that all of the containers are unloaded we were able to spend part of the day sorting the boxes by delivery region and family.  Fortunately we have lots of help and the task is completed fairly quickly.  unfortunately we are still waiting for permission to start delivering the boxes!

Today ended with another presentation and concert at the orphanage, and what a great evening we had!  The Canadians were so excited to see the children showing off their talents and the children reveled in the presentations and the opportunity to strut their stuff!

Jann Smith presented the children in her International Cooking Class with copies of all of the recipes that they prepared and the children came forward and were recognized.  From left, Annis Moreau, Yanna, Vlad, Boris, Maxime, Jann Smith, Volva, Nina, tracy Yuille and Sasha.

Brittany managed to get the rest of the Grad Dresses and the girls had a fabulous time trying them on and picking out their favourites and they each wore one to the concert.  Here are the girls showing off their beautiful choices.  What a great gift from so many girls in Canada.

There were also presentations of 3 videos that the students created with the help of Stephen.  All 3 videos were presented and the directors and actors were recognized.  I will try to get copies and post them in the future.

We also had the presentation of this years Yearbooks.  Here Stephen and Kristina, who headed up the Yearbook committee, make a presentation prior to handing out the yearbooks.

The Yearbooks were a huge hit again this year.  This is the 3rd year and the largest yearbook yet!  We took some time for the children to look through the yearbooks and get autographs from their friends and the Canadians.  Here Alina (a little princess) waits for a turn for a signature.

Dan had lots of requests for signatures and sometimes had a line up!

Friends signing for friends!

Brittany signing for some of the boys.

We ended the evening with a concert put on by our new music students and assisted by our 4 teachers, Neil Matheson, Chad Izatt, David Hutchinson and Donna Richards.  Here they are performing “Twist and Shout”.

Each student had an opportunity to perform in a song.  Here Nikita joins Neil at the microphone “Knocking on Heavens Door”.

Vlad on the drums.

Tanya and Anna play the piano while Katya looks on.

Yanna really rocked out on an AC-DC song!

With Artyom trying out the new bass guitar.

Dave spoke to the children about why we come to visit them, the importance of finding your own special talent and using the gifts that we have brought.  Here Yulia explains to the students that she was afraid to try making a video, but once she got started it was a lot of fun and she challenged the other children to  step out of their comfort zone and try new activities.

Dave told the students that he wanted them to fully utilize all of the things we have brought them and that we wanted to see lots of pictures of canoeing, camping, biking as well as using the musical equipment.  He explained how important that all of them are to the Canadians and that we think about them all year long.  The evening ended with lots of hugs and it was clear to every Canadian that these children have a special bond with us … and there is no doubt that these children live in all of our hearts!

Eric McKenzie