This Child Here

Dear Friends,

I begin with a photo of Taras who died several weeks ago on the streets. My first photos of Taras go back about two years. Even then he couldn't talk or walk properly because of a drug which damages the nervous system, causing neuropothy. Taras was a long time user of Baltushka, a drug made from cold medicine that contains ephedrim, vinegar and potassium permanganate. They stir these three things together in a small plastic cup , draw it into a needle and inject it into a vein. Taras had it injected into a vein near his collar bone; it was an artery to the heart. His heart stopped.

I arrived back in Ukraine a week ago to +2C temperatures and was surprised to see many people on the streets and at the train station wearing masks. Swine flu hysteria. Schools are all closed for the next three weeks, public gatherings canceled. The government is contemplating a restriction of travel. Pharmacies have run out of masks and medicine. There are signs on pharmacy windows: NO MASKS OR MEDICINE (but in Russian, of course). I think Ukraine is asking for international aid. How great is the real threat, I don't think anyone knows.
With temperatures just above freezing, the city had still not turned on the gas to heat water, to heat apartment buildings throughout Odessa. I asked when the heat would be turned on, someone in the office said, "They are waiting until it gets REALLY cold."

We still attended a bicycle rally, though, the first for kids at The Way Home. From Odessa, about 50 cyclists participated. See photos below. Four of our boys rode and since there was a requirement for a girl. Alyona, our youngest, age 11, also rode. Seconds after I shot this photo of her coming down a hill, she pulled the front hand brake and went over the handle bars. All was well, though we couldn't get her back on the bike for that particular race.

I'm so pleased with Vanya, the boy you see in the white t-shirt and helmet. He is only 18, lived on the streets for a time and then came to us. Currently he is enrolled in a class at a local maritime academy; Im not sure of his vocational choice, but he will graduate with the ability to work for a living wage. i started buying used bicycles and he has been the force behind the success of my bicycle project. He's full of energy. You see him here working on a bike.

This photo of Ann with two boys was taken at a Narcotics Rehab center. Currently, I am paying for medicine that will help repair neurological damage done by use of a drug called Baltushka. This damage makes it difficult for kids to speak and to walk. Studies have shown that some motor skills can be revived with medicine. For me this is a one-time project. I am hoping if I am successful with these two boys, who have been off Baltushka for over a year, that another funding program in Ukraine will take on additional teens.

Will is a volunteer from Cambridge University in England; he speaks Russian and is doing the translation work for Ann and Alla. He is helping to connect This Child Here with Russian speaking volunteers from universities in England.

Leah, another volunteer, comes from the Portland area (Reed College) and has worked with SOIL in Hati, Mercy Corps in Portland, and for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in DC. She is in Odessa, teaching English and also learning Russian as well as helping us as a volunteer. She’s a wizard with web site construction and editing.

Through a sermon I wrote and other contacts, I recently met on-line, Allen Hingston, a Canadian living in Ukraine, who describes himself as: "Father, husband, agricultural consultant, beef cattle specialist, dog owner, reluctant gardener, amateur photographer, history buff and wandering soul who has at last found home and happiness in Ukraine."

You may enjoy his blog:

http://dablogfodder.blogspot.com/2009/11/working-with-street-kids-in-odessa.html
What follows are just a few shots of my time in the states,

-a person you don't often see photos of: Nancy Gard. Nancy is an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Daytona Beach, is the Vice President of This Child Here, handles all donations and paperwork.

-the historic sanctuary at the Newnan Presbyterian church in Newnan, Georgia
-the more modern sanctuary of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Tigard, Oregon,
-after coffee with Danny Dieth of Christ Presbyterian Church, Tallahassee, Florida, a pastor who has been to Russia.

-these pink flamingos were part of a fund raising project of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC. The youth placed them (no they are not real) in the yard of one family in the church and that family can give a donation to have them moved to someone else's yard. (actually, you pay to get rid of them :-)

-a common scene, me online at Paneras.... this time studying Russian with online flash cards.

-the photo exhibition in Farmington, NM. This exhibition was arranged by Tina and Linda Pacheco. Tina also arranged newspaper and television interviews and three interviews on local radio programs. The exhibit was held at their business, Homeworks, as part of an Art Walk Day in Farmington. Most of my time is spent speaking at churches, this was the first photo exhibition in the states for This Child Here.

-on the radio in Farmington, NM

-I always end my time in the states with my sons in Asheville, NC.
Grace and Peace,

Robert Gamble

the last shot of Taras