11/11/07: It was a stormy day in Mariupol - we later learned that a hurricane had swept through the area, damaging a lot of areas along the coast.We stopped by what would become our favorite grocery in Mariupol, Abzhora, and bought bananas and juice for William's groupa. Then L&L (facilitator and driver) drove us to the orphanage.
Our little guy was slowly beginning to warm up to us. We started with snacks, and then played for awhile. We learned that he likes apples with peanut butter. The peanut butter was obviously new to him (it's almost impossible to find it in Ukraine) but he really enjoyed dipping the slices into it.
There were some Legos in the room, so we played with them. It was fun watching as he thought and tried to come up with a plan. We tried on some more clothes, including the jeans and shoes that we’d bought the previous day. The shoes were too small, so our facilitator took them to exchange them for us.
When it was almost time to leave, William led us to his groupa room upstairs. He proudly helped us hand out bananas to all of the children, making sure that everyone was included before sitting down to enjoy his own.
It was good to get to spend a few minutes with the other children. We took a few pictures, so that we'd have them for William as he gets older. I wondered what would happen to those children.
Fast forward to March 2010: a blog friend who was in process to adopt from Ukraine found a youtube video that she shared with me - and as it turns out, it was about the adoption of one of William's groupa friends! The little girl's mom & I have since connected and shared pictures and stories. How wonderful to know she's now part of a family. I was able to give her a picture of her little girl from the day we served bananas.
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| William in bedroom - 2007 |
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| William in bedroom - 2010 |
Fast forward to June 2010: we went back to visit William's orphanage. Only one child from his groupa remains. The rest have either been adopted or are back with their biological families. So happy for them, and so sad that Dima is still there.
4 comments:
I'm so jealous! The one and only time we were allowed to go past the front visiting rooms (sure recognize that couch by the way!) was when we visited Viktor in the infirmary. We have no photos of his 'real' life inside the orphanage. He took some of his friends before he left but that is all we have.
How old is Dima? Viktor's best friend was named Dima (granted, Dima is a common name) but Viktor's Dima was a few years younger than he is and there is a story there about this particular Dima and his situation. If it's the same Dima, I can perhaps close the circle for you.
Jen,
is DIMA free for international adoption? If so, could you possibly post his photo?
It makes my heart sing to hear you and the other Mom were able to share stories. (smiles) Have you connected with anyone that might have earlier pics of Daniel? If you have any success networking please let me know. Like Daniel, our girls Anya(4) & Masha(Maria(3) were in Sonechko, Mariupol (April 2008-June 2010).
PS. We still need that playdate : )
Hi, we are the Duncans from San Diego, and we adopted our son, Cory, from Sonchenko in August 2008. He is now 9, almost 10 years old. He was at the orphanage from approximately February 2006 until August 2007. His birth name is Yevgen, but his common name in the orphanage was Jenya. I'm wondering if our boys knew each other, since it looks like your little guy was at Sonchenko in Mariupol around the same time. It would be fun to connect the two boys again, if it makes sense for you.
God bless,
Kyle Duncan
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