Getting Down to Business

I have found that some of the time I have enjoyed most with the children is working with them. This of course includes English homework but also includes our time collecting walnuts at the new children’s center the day I left for Chernovtsy.

I did not know quite what to expect when they told me we were going to work at the new children’s center. When we first arrived some of the children who had arrived earlier were busy sweeping up dust and debris from the latest renovation work and adding it to the large trash heap collecting on the property. A few boys finished the cleaning; everyone else could be found under the trees in the yard. If you were to walk by, you would have seen trees shaking. Boys would climb in the branches and try to shake the nuts loose. After hitting the ground, others would collect the nuts, many still in their green casing. Crack, the sound of a casing being stomped on to free the nut from its protective cover. You must be very careful when handling these nuts, because it only takes a little bit of the juice from one of these nuts to turn your hands brown. With a lot of juice they will be black. Once gathered, the nuts went into a large bag to be taken back to the children’s center and enjoyed. It was a time of laughter and joy as we worked together to find walnuts, a simple task that allowed us to work together and further build relationships. It is during these moments with the children when I find myself giving thanks to the Lord for each and every one of them and for allowing me the opportunity to love them. Please pray for the children and the continuing work on their new home. Pray that the funds will be supplied to finish and operate the new home. Pray for the children who will someday live within its walls. Thank you for your prayers and support of God’s children.

Remodeling

When I returned to Chernovtsy two weeks ago, I never expected to be so busy. It was an exciting time for the city and an exciting time for Aquila. Last month the windows were replaced in the office. This may sound normal to us but as an American girl I was surprised at what I found. First of all, many of the windows in Ukraine are double pained. This basically means that there are two windows, one in front of the other, with about 6” between, to help keep the cold out in the winter. Thanks to new technology and thicker glass these windows are no longer necessary. Therefore the new windows are only one panel which is placed at the outside wall of the old window. This leaves six inches of brick around the perimeter of the window inside your house. If you think this may be an eye sore, it is but what makes it worse is that they don’t bother making as little mess as possible nor do they clean up after themselves. After replacing the windows they leave piles of dust, broken bricks, and chunks of cement in their wake. If you ever need to replace your windows while living in Ukraine be sure to order you sills. Yes, you must order them separately, if you don’t you won’t have them, like us. We did order them, and they put them in making a mess as large as the first.

The windows were not the only renovation work being done at this time. This past week just after the window sills were in place professional painters came to paint the three main rooms and touch up in the bathroom. Before this could be done, as much stuff as possible had to be put into the storage room and the large furniture moved to the center of the rooms and covered with plastic. (If I didn’t mention it before, Vera was in the hospital during my two weeks in Chernovtsy. An American girl should never be overseeing renovations in Ukraine. Thankfully, I had lots of help.) Vera’s family came, much earlier than I was expecting to help with the furniture. So as I tried to pack my things to move in with a family across town while the painting was being done, they started stacking the furniture. There are many things that I have difficulty understanding in this culture. Vera’s mother is one of them. She is a very go, go, go, babushka. She has a good heart and always trying to help everyone out, which is why she led the furniture covering brigade. Her first order was in the family room; there were two couches, one love seat, a piano and a few random small tables and chairs- so it would only make sense to put the largest couch on top of the piano. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end.

The paint process was an interesting experience. Vera’s father delivered the paint and Erra, an Aquila volunteer took me to get color for the paint. When I think of picking out a paint color, I think of walking into Sherwin Williams, looking over the thousands of colors available on the paint cards, maybe taking a few home with me to look at with the furniture or carrying a scrap of fabric into the store to find the right color. I then take it to the Sherwin Williams counter, where they type the numbers into a computer (This way if I need more, I will get the same exact color the second time), a machine mixes it and I take it home to use.

This is not the process in Ukraine. There is no Sherwin Williams. There is not even Home Depot. There is a bazaar, a special bazaar for things like paint, plumbing, electrical, and any other home supplies you may need. In this bazaar, you buy paint; which Vera’s father did and delivered to the apartment so that we would not need to carry it on the bus. Erra and I however went to buy the color. Color is bought separately. There are about 30 or so colors. Each can be used to make various shades, depending on how much white paint you add it to. We found the colors we liked and took them home. It was explained to the paint guys that we wanted a light color, nothing harsh; which they did.

And the final product… The biggest mess, I’ve ever seen by painters professional or non. (And if you know how messy I am, you know that is a lot) There was paint on the walls and everywhere else. On the drop cloths, on the floor, everywhere. We can clean it up, no problem- we were planning on doing that anyway and to put a new coat of paint on the floor.

Side Note: Floor Paint- In Ukraine, there are only two colors of floor paint offered; brown or brown. Your choice is brown/red or brown/yellow. Tell me what color would you paint the floor with black trim and a bluish purple room?

There was one problem with our plan, the walls looked awful. Instead of being warm, welcoming pastels the colors of the walls were faded out that for some reason looked like colors you would use to describe an illness in a piece of art. In addition, the coat was so thin that you could see all the patches and flaws in the wall. We had to paint again. Back to the bazaar, this time we were carrying a large bucket of paint on the bus.

After sanding and preparing the doors and trim work to be painted black we swept, vacuumed, and mopped up the dust left behind from the windows, removal of chalky paint (which had previously been on the walls; a common practice in this part of the world; be careful if you lean up against a wall, you may leave with it on your shirt) and the powder we created sanding it was time to start painting. I started with the black trim to keep anyone from changing their mind or keeping us from using this shocking color. Erra came to help. She started repainting the kitchen a springy yellow. With only a third of the work done, I ran out of black paint and the bazaar was closed. So while Erra worked in the kitchen, I worked on what will be the bedroom. Not paying attention to exact measurements we poured the paint from the large bucket into smaller buckets to be used in each room. I added the color, mixed, added some more, mixed again and continued this process till I found just the right cool blue color. Erra finished the kitchen and got started on the living room. GREEN! Spring green, not sick green. I ran out of paint and mixed some more. When I got almost finished and ran out again, it was clear that we were going to run out of paint. Because we would need a ladder before we could finish the room anyway, I decided to join Erra in the green room. Maybe we could finish it. WRONG! We ran out of paint in there two, and we may just have two shades of green.

With half the apartment still needing painted, and all the furniture needing unpacked, Erra and I did the only possible way out- we left for Kiev for a Children’s Conference before Vera can return to kill us.

Happy Birthday Chernovtsy

Saturday October 4, 2008 marked the opening to the 600th Birthday celebration for the city Chernovtsy. A beautiful sunny day graced spectators as they walked along the carless streets. Chernovtsy has four squares, all of which were home to stages where performances of local and Ukrainian culture. Dancing, singing, music, and skits were performed by locals of all ages. Booths were set up for participants to buy Ukrainian souvenirs. A blacksmith was firing iron and bending it into souvenirs for the crowd who had gathered around to watch him. A huge clock was placed in the ground with flowers adorning its face. Among the crowded streets one could spot people dressed in clothes from past times in Chernovtsy. People were getting their picture taken on a large iron carriage gifted to the city. It is said that 52 weddings were to be registered over the weekend. In the rose garden in front of the opera house, was a great competition of floral displays, some beautiful, some creative. In almost every store front 600.

As part of the festivities, a huge cake was cut for everyone to enjoy. Olassia, Erra, and I fought our way through the crowds to find this treasure. Unfortunately, we did not find the actual cake. What we found was a mob and people escaping it with large pieces of cake, many of whom were wearing it by the time they made it out of the crowd to enjoy it. We decided it would be better to just buy our own cake.

The first night ended with a spectacular concert on one of the squares. An Italian singer, who was apparently very famous, serenaded the crowd. One could hardly move through the throng of people. The only time I have ever been in a larger crowd in a public square was New Year’s Eve in Times Square. As a grand finale a laser light show painted the buildings around the square. Fireworks burst into the air showering the sky with brilliant colors. People watched attentively, cheering.

Chaos, ultimate chaos! The fireworks were over and grey smoke still lingered in the air. People, most of them drunk, were ready to go home. There was shoving and pushing to get out of the narrow streets. It was an experience I shall always remember and never wish to have again. It made me thankful for the laws and regulations we have in the United States to prevent the dangers that can be created by an unruly crowd.

Saturday was only the beginning. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday brought new activities and events, leading up to Wednesday October 8th- the official Birthday of Chernovtsy.

Staying Busy

Remodeling, Chernovtsy’s 600th Jubilee, and the start of Aquila’s internship program with the local university. Forms and documents for the internship program had to be created and translated during my first week in Chernovtsy. With Vera gone, I had the privilege of introducing interns to Aquila. I shared with them the sort of work we do and some of the details of what they would be doing. Erra, Lassia and I guided them through their first few days. With five interns in two groups, Aquila volunteers took students to visit homes of disabled children. It was interesting to observe their first responses to the situations and home environments that they were introduced to. After going with them to each family once, they went back a second time on their own. It is very exciting to see what God is doing with Aquila in Chernovtsy. Through this internship program we will be able to help moms and kids build new relationships and connections, create awareness of persons with and affected by special needs and to begin building a foundation for an occupational therapy program for Ukrainian Universities. Please pray that the intern’s eyes would be open to the needs of the clients they are working with. Pray their hearts be filled with compassion for those crying out for love.

On an English Note: In a recent conversation I learned something I found very interesting about the studying of English in schools during the reign of the former Soviet Union. A man was recollecting and explaining how they taught English when he was in school. Translation, Translation, Translation! That is all they did was translate text. They were not allowed to speak English. Why? Because if they can speak a language that cannot be understood by those around them, then they may be keeping secrets.

Prayer- Thank you for your prayers. God is doing great things through them. Please remember to pray for the children of Chernovtsy and Vapnyarka. Pray for World Light Foundation and Aquila as they reach out to those in need. Please pray for me to know how I can best serve each organization. May God bless you for your loving support, Tiffany