The Story

In 2005, Kevin traveled in Ukraine on business. Before the trip, Jessica gathered good used clothing for Dad to drop off at a local orphanage she had read about on the Internet http://www.life2orphans.org/ While at the orphanage, the children were preparing for a holiday musical performance. Valya was in the performance. A little girl about 3 years old caught his eye by her engaging personality. Upon inquiring about the girl (Olya), he was told she had recently been brought to this orphanage after being abandoned by her mother, who was supposed to be in jail. The little girl, so it was told wasn't expected to live long as she was dying of cancer. After returning to US, Kevin sought information on getting treatment for Olya. Children's Hospital in Memphis and NW Airlines agreed to help the little girl. However, all the efforts were fruitless and Kevin couldn't find the right officials to sign off on the medical treatment. Taking her out of the country for treatment wasn't going to work.

The red flags are in support of the communist party. Pink (not present) in pictures supports the socialists. Blue supports pro-Russia Yanokovich. Most of the people gathered appear to be enjoying the loud music mostly. We steered clear of the main body.

The white flags are in support of Yulia, the sometimes ally of Yushenko.

Tomorrow we are on our way home. More pictures and stories to come later.

Today the team toured around Kyiv while a small delegation visited CNFA. The Orange protesters are in support of pro-west Yushenko. The locals tell us that people are brought in from around the country and paid $60 for coming and protesting.

The internet is a little difficult, especially when trying to edit and post pics due to language. Even though switched to English the local computers still have the menu in Russian or Ukr.

The pictures are teaching local kids at the orphanage about baseball. Some of the kids live with their family on some weekends as the family can't afford to feed them.

Today we left Poltava after teaching baseball at a local orphanage. The kids loved it. Very well behaved. For some of us, the hot water finally arrived for showers....of course the day we leave.

The drive back to Kyiv was uneventful. Kyiv is bustling, but the locals are a little nervous about the political situation. A police officer fleeced a bribe from the bus driver to get a permit to get downtown. We're really close to the demonstration area. Lots of flags and buses.

The guys check out the rich Ukrainian soil.

A local shows a long list of relatives from the village killed during ww2