4/6/08

Recent Community Activities in Kerch

I have a few decent shots from our regular ministries in the Kerch area and I thought you might like to see some.
This lovely lady lives in a village south of the city.  The chief of this village (whose name I always have trouble spelling - even transliterated) is a great advocate for her community.  She is always working with us to ensure that we are aware of the disadvantaged in her town.  Thus, she is a great resource when it comes to distribution of humanitarian aid.  She guided us to this woman as we delivered a much needed portable toilet.  Since most restrooms (frequently outhouses) in the villages are what I not-so-lovingly call "squatties," you can imagine what a relief this seat will be to old legs.

Many times for larger recipients (ie hospitals, clinics, etc.) of humanitarian aid, the representatives pick up the materials.  In this case they brought a 30 year old dump truck...
...into which they could cram a prodigious amount of bananas....
...but don't worry, we have plenty more and an extremely alert security guard to ensure their safety...

...ok, that isn't completely accurate.  It is not uncommon for hospitals to hire construction-style trucks to pick up the materials which are being donated.  This particular group had already taken a truck-load of rolling walkers by the time I grabbed these pictures.  The banana boxes are actually used clothing; each box meticulously labeled with the age and gender.  These garments are stylish and lightly used, not thrift store trash - I even noticed Sarah looking at them with interest.  As to Dima leaning on the pile of boxes in the storage building...I am guessing that he was forced to take a break because he got too far ahead of the rest of the crew.
Sarah also gets into the act weekly with her craft time at the orphanage.  I hesitate to share too much as she is always looking for topics for her next post, but as you can see, the kids made some pretty sweet stuff this weekend.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update and pictures Matt. It is always good to touch base with your work in the Ukraine and the local community - lest people think you left your native land to divert attention from your soccer fetish.

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  2. Mark, Ronaldo is pretty shiney! :) On NBC Nightly News last night they did a story on the underground Ukrainian banana smuggling ring. Apparently, the leaders of this ring refers to themselves as Los Plantanos Locos.

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