Russian Tales

[adam]

Yes that's it, I always get the H and the P mixed up. That is also the charity I am working with, HopeNow. You probably wouldn't guess it from their homepage, but like I said they are a relatively large organization.

Its much worse than people in Ukraine just not caring about orphans, there is actually this really irrational stigma against orphans there. They are literally believed to be mentally deficient, to the point of retardation. Even the Ukrainian members of the charity that we have stationed there frequently point out that the kids are incapable of learning the same way a kid with parents would. So its tough to get the govt. interested in giving more aid, because they are really viewed as a lost cause.

[Roundabout]

Its much worse than people in Ukraine just not caring about orphans, there is actually this really irrational stigma against orphans there. They are literally believed to be mentally deficient, to the point of retardation. Even the Ukrainian members of the charity that we have stationed there frequently point out that the kids are incapable of learning the same way a kid with parents would. So its tough to get the govt. interested in giving more aid, because they are really viewed as a lost cause.

There was a family here locally that was hosting an orphan girl (11 y.o.) from Ukraine a few months back, and they talked about adoption. In the end, they sent her back, which is sad. I never found out why, they never told us what the reasons were. I'm glad my wife was able to meet with her at least one time, and gave her some souvenirs to take with her.

Anyway, since the Ukraine gov't isn't inclined to do much for their own, it's easy to see why they don't really care about what charities do or don't do. They would just as soon turn kids out onto the street when they turn 18, and that's exactly what they do. They have nowhere to go, and no skills to help them get jobs.

IMO that's something they need to have: some type of education so at least if they survive the orphanage, they will be able to become productive members of society. What's going to happen to them if they don't learn some skill? They'll be prostitutes (in the case of girls) or criminals (in the case of boys).

Have you seen/heard anything since the new president (Yushchenko) took over, as far as anything changing for better or worse?

The kids don't seem to be a priority for anyone.