Ukraine, despite Scott's and my preconceived ideas about it, is a beautiful country. The large cities were full of very old, very interesting architecture. The small villages had a different kind of beauty; of livestock being tended by men, rollings fields of sunflowers, quaint houses with wells in their yards and thatched roofs, and horse drawn carts driving down the roads instead of cars. Instead of finding the people cold and harsh, we found them friendly and warm and very helpful. One day when I was in the small town where I was staying, I needed to put more minutes on my phone and was struggling to figure out how. I went to one store and called my facilitator so he could explain to the clerk what I needed (since I do not speak Russian and all!). The store I was in could not add minutes so the clerk walked me down the street to a store that could and then proceeded to explain to that store what I needed. He did not leave me until it was all taken care of. I have never had that type of customer service here in the U.S.! One day I had a flat tire and three men stopped to change it for me and would not take any compensation for it. Many people, including myself at one time, lump Ukraine in with Russia and have an idea that they are a harsh, cold people. Funny how wrong prejudices can be. And really, Ukraine is not the same as Russia. I can not count the times people have said to us that they heard we adopted from Russia. Ukraine is a separate, independent country. Just as the U.S. is a separate country from Canada, Ukraine is from Russia. Their country is not perfect, as ours is not, but it is THEIR country.
During the paperwork part of our adoption process, our actual time in country, and post adoption phase, we have met in person, on line, and in Ukraine, so many people who have become very special to our family. Truly, some of these people now feel like family and we are bonded to them for life. I do not begin to understand the political issues going on in Ukraine so I have been hesitant to write about it. I do understand that Russia is slowly invading Ukraine and that the Ukrainian people do not want it. They are being killed and displaced slowly but surely. Orphanages in the east have been evacuated and placed elsewhere in the country. Families have left everything and fled to other parts of the country. I keep in touch with one of our friends in Ukraine who has been displaced and am posting (with his permission) part of his last email. It is one thing to read about this in the news and quite another to know this is happening to people you have met, people that you care about.
"Can't complain, really. Certainly in undeniably better condition than so many other families. It's just that this nagging feeling that we lost home that we've invested into so much of our time and resources over the last years continues to be rather painful. Yes, we are ok here at our rental but it's not "quite right" and will never be. I am afraid we crossed a no-return point and will need to adapt even better/quicker. I guess however there's no price for your kids' safety, running around happily, going to school, etc. We pretend as much as we can the life is normal when it is not..."
This hurts my heart to read - his sadness coming through so clearly. He, with his wife and children, had to leave behind their home and everything they owned to prevent being in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine. They just walked away from everything - or ran. And yet many families there do not have the resources to do this.
Another family from Texas that we have been fortunate to 'meet' along the way has started a non-profit call The Jeremiah Raok Project. The goal is to help the people of Ukraine. They just finished raising money to send food to eastern Ukraine. They are now raising money to help an orphanage in another part of Ukraine. You can read about this online at www.jeremiahraokproject.com. This month, all the proceeds from my jewelry sales will be going to this project. Please join me in helping to support them! You can purchase jewelry or just donate on their page. It is a hard, sad situation and my heart hurts for the people of Ukraine. If Russia succeeds, their lives will never be the same. The citizens will be Russian citizens, and the orphans will not be allowed to be adopted as Russia has shut down American adoptions. We are ever so grateful that we got Benjamin out. But there are thousands left. Precious faces that keep me up at night. Please, be in prayer for the kids in the orphanages and the people of Ukraine.
P.S. Benjamin has been doing great. He is plugging away in his school work and continuing to build his vocabulary. He loves being in a family, American food, and the freedom he has now. We were able to Skype recently with a friend of his that has now been adopted and it made my heart fill with joy to see how much they enjoyed discussing their new American lives. They laughed and talked for a very long time and we look forward to doing it again soon. It was surreal to see and hear them looking nothing like they did in their orphanage and certainly sounding nothing like they did as they conversed entirely in English. It was a very special time.
