Visit to Kremenchuk Baby House (09/21/2009)
Elizabeth and Stacey visited the Kremenchuk Baby House. Here are parts of their reports and photos:
What an emotional day! Our day started at the Kremenchuk Baby House around 10 AM. Unfortunately the director Lydia was out of town. We were greeted by the Deputy Director though. The Bye Bye Buggy was sitting right by the entry to the orphanage and inside the door was the multi-seat stroller, both purchased by OBS on behalf of the donors. They asked for more of these as it's such a help getting the kids outdoors. See attached photos.
We took a tour of the orphanage beginning with the remodeled laundry building. The Deputy Director walked us through the building showing us the newly tiled walls, tiled floors, and recently purchased equipment. New machines were humming w/ laundry and if a person could be proud of a washer, the workers sure were. It was CLEAN and no more standing water, falling tiles, etc. Everything was new and it looked super ! THANK YOU to VIka who oversaw this project and to Pascal and LAdS (svieta.org) for helping with the cost.
Next, we left the laundry building and headed to the playground area. The playground equipment looked absolutely phenomenal.
We headed into the building and were taken to the Hydro-therapy room being built. After viewing that room, we proceeded to visit the newborn baby area. All I can say is this is where the emotion part of the day really kicked in. Prior to walking into the nursery, you will see in the photos the bumbo seats that were donated by OBS.
We left the nursery area and walked down the hall area to the physical therapy room that is being built right now.
Next we got to see an older group...4 year olds. They were very happy playing and getting dressed for the day. 3 kids with DownSyndrome were in the group and we will be working w/ an advocacy group to find these kids a family. Lots of toys and well-fed kids in this group...no more of skinny, pale kids I saw in 2003. The caregivers looked a lot more hands on too.
After that, we went to the therapy room to see the ball pit and other items. They were just finishing up with the therapy with one child when we arrived.
Finally, we came back to the director's office. We discussed their needs and what OBS could do to help them. We will be ordering flu vaccines this winter for them and went w/ them to order medical supplies after going to the orphanage. Nina let me know that they are going to be having kids up to age 6 now as UA tries to eliminate the 'middle orphanages' for kids 4-7. Moving one less time for the kids should be a good thing. Since numbers are down at most orphanages (due in part to focus on foster care) this will insure KBH stays open. It is the only baby house in the oblast so it is not in danger of closing but w/ more kids the staff's jobs will be safe too.
Lastly they brought in a 2 year old blind boy named Kostya. He was a doll. I got to hold him and he was as light as a feather. He was so cute. It seems he has cateracts. That's it. Otherwise he is healthy and developing normally. He needs surgery in Kiev and while the surgery is free, someone must get him there, pay a nurse to stay, etc. If you would like to help, please donate at orphansbrightstar.org . As soon as he gets this surgery, he will be adopted so you will be saving his life. He is available for adoption now but w/o the surgery it is not likely. They asked for our help.
The last photo you will see attached is of a little girl on a tricycle. She is HIV positive and precious as can be. She loved to blow kisses to us as we were preparing to get into the car. Personally, it was something that was extremely difficult to experience.
Next up was a stop at the medical supply store. We bought the agreed upon items : inhalation devices (I think nebulizers), some type of machine for putting oxygen in the blood (or measuring it maybe) and a muscle stimulating device for the CP kids. I kept asking if they needed anything else so Svetlana (the person in charge of therapy) did ask for some paper for the EKG machine. It was abt. $1 a roll...I could only talk her into 6 rolls.
Overall, Kremenchuk Baby House is a lot different than in 2003. It is a brighter, more modern looking place. New flooring, wallpaper, ceilings, etc. make it much cheerier. I saw more contact w/ the kids and caregivers. Baby bathtubs, not washing the kids in huge sinks...just touches like that indicate they are progressing.
I want to thank each family that has donated money and sent stuff to them...it really warmed my heart to see all of the improvements. They still have needs so let's keep going !