Sunday, November 19, 2000

After the service they were handing out blessed bread. There was a very long line for it. There was a large group of children - about 30. They were reaching for the bread and eating it like they were very hungry. We think these kids are all orphans. One lady was with all of them. Outside, the lady gave each child a piece of bread, it was roll. Then she started to hand out a small sucker to each child. People started to come up and hand the lady some money. I felt so sorry for them. The children all looked so normal - why did they not have homes. It broke my heart to think of them being so hungry. We gave her 40 Hr. (about $8). She really smiled when I handed her the money - it is a lot of money to her.

Its sad how poor the people are here. I spoke with Gena yesterday about Christmas. He said people do not exchange gifts anymore because they do not have any money to buy gifts. Their goal is to get enough money to buy food for Christmas dinner. I guess they like to eat a stuffed duck. It is very sad, we do not even know how good we have it in the US. I want to help these people, give them money - but where do you begin. Who should I give it to? I would love to hand out $100 bills to people - they probably would not even know what to do with that much money. This bothers me, I really do want to help them.

We went and saw the kids at 4 pm. They both remember us. No crying when they came to us. Orest went in for Stefan, initially he ran away then with encouragement from the caregivers he walked over to Orest. We played with a balloon with Stefan - he really liked it. They both really like the nesting trucks we brought.

We walked today inside the orphanage. They both like to walk. Stefan almost runs down the hall while you hold his hand. We took them upstairs to see how they do. They both can step up if you hold their arms but without support, they both crawl. Stefan, of course, has an easier time with it.

Andre fed Orest tiny cookie crumbs. It is very interesting - both boys will pick up any crumbs that fall. Some of the crumbs are so small I don't even see them. I hold my hand under their chin to catch crumbs and after every bite they pick up each crumb and put it in their mouths. Andre continues to turn his cookies around and around.

We found out something interesting today. There was another American couple with their 2 children they were adopting. One was a boy 21 months old, blonde hair, named Artem. We know that this is the boy we were referred to. We were told his mother came to get him - not true. I don't know how the other family got him, I don't know if I want to know. I love the 2 boys we have. I just find it interesting.

When it was time to leave we took the boys back into their room. I set Stefan down and he started to cry. I picked him up and he stopped. I set him down again and again he cried and reached up for me. I picked him up and held him. A caregiver came over and I handed him over to her, but he continued to cry. He didn't want us to leave. This is the first time he has cried when we have left. I am happy he has "taken" to us and like being with us, it is hard to walk away from him though when he is crying for me to hold him.

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