Yosopovitchy

Our little orphanage was on our agenda for Tuesday the 13th. We drove up there once again to deliver some kitchen sinks & cabinets which had previously been ordered.
The orphanage now also has five new windows in place on the school side. The roof that was caving in has also been repaired. All these repairs are made possible through the generosity of Christians back in Canada and the States. The director has often told us how thankful the staff is there because of the repairs and renovations that have been done, and how they don't know where they would be without this help. The first time Yosopovitchy was visited there was not even soap available to them for washing. Ruslan was telling us that the food used to come from the workers themselves on a daily basis. One would bring bread, another would bring eggs, another vegetables and with that they would feed the kids for the day. Life has been made much more pleasant for the children in the last few years.
Even today, there was a box of shoes of various sizes brought along for the children to try on. All the kids got new shoes. Quite a bit of groceries and cleaning supplies was also purchased and brought along.
The plumbing repairs that need to be done will all be done after we are gone back to Canada. The washroom in the school side will all be redone as was the one in the orphanage side.
This was our last visit there for this spring/summer. Flora will return in the fall Lord willing.
While we were in Yosopovitchy, we drove a bit further and went to Stryii to visit the carver and his family of 6 children. We had groceries for them also, an amount that will perhaps last them a couple of weeks. There was some clothing brought also, as well as some footwear. Gilles had brought along a calendar with pictures of moose and some pages from a hunting magazine for Michealo to look at as he loves to carve animals. His oldest son is now starting to carve also and is proving to have some ability. It was with sadness that we left them as our time in Ukraine is quickly coming to an end. They have heard the gospel on several occasions and assure us they are reading their bible and Maria tells us that she prays for us constantly. The condition these people live must be seen to be believed. Even as we visited today, the air outside was warm but the inside of the house was damp and dark and had such a strong musty smell that we all wondered how it was that they weren't all sick. They never open the two windows fearing a draft will give them problems. They have such a problem with cockroaches that the new refrigerator that was purchased for them a year and a half ago is still not being used. They are worried that it will get infested with cockroaches so they leave it in the middle of their living room covered with a blanket. You have to appreciate the fact that the "living room" is also the bedroom for six people. The truth of the matter is that they will never be able to get rid of these cockroaches as they don't have what they need to do anything about the problem. What they really need is a new apartment. We can only imagine how many other people live in similar conditions.