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NEWS from 'LUBYSTOK'
A few interesting events, December 2007
Cooking master-class, November 2007
Activities of volunteers in ‘Lubystok’, September-October 2007
Pirogovo, August 24, 2007
Valera, August 2007
Activities of volunteers in 'Lubystok', January-May 2007
Picnic, May 2007
Different events, spring 2007
Trip to dendropark 'Sofievka', May 2007
Activity of volunteers in 'Lubystok', September-December 2006
A few interesting events, December 2007
A brief report on last weeks of our activities. Due to our volunteer Tanya who organized free tickets some more children were lucky to visit the Young people's Theatre in Lipki district. Besides our cultural program was enlarged by excursions to two museums - a Zoological and a Museum of Russian Art.
In the Zoological museum our children were delighted with the presented exhibits but I was a bit disappointed by the lack of a museum guide.
The same story was in the Museum of Russian Art where we could not order a guide and besides we were requested to quit quickly the gallery of ancient Russian icons and paintings. We felt a bit upset though on the other side we understand the fears of custodians when they see children near paintings. On leaving we gave children small money to throw into the donation box and thus made very happy an old custodian lady who invited kids to come more saying that the museum keeps its nice collections for children of their chilren and for future generations.
Among the sports events we can highlight a visit of karate couch Alexei who made this time children familiar with basics of one of the most effective systems of Israeli close fighting - krav maga. We wanted to held one more traning with another couch of close fighting, but unexpectedly the children had to visit circus and we have to cancel the training. Unfortunately pre-holiday days are not the best time for regular classes :(.
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Cooking master-class, November 2007
At the end of November three of our children were invited to take part in the cooking master-class. Here is a brief report of it.
As it would be too simple to cook something like sandwitches, we decided to have a more interesting dinner with one typical Ukrainian and one exotic Eastern dish. And besides it had to be healthy as it is very important in our times of fast-food, chips, cola and all other junk food that children are getting used to since childhood.
To make this event look like a game our girls organized two teams and received two lists with ingredients for – bortsch (Ukrainian cabbage soup) and rice with vegetables a-la Chinese. They had to determine themselves which ingredients coinside so that not to buy one and the same ingredient, they had to calculate costs and – the most interesting thing – to find the necessary food in the many-coloured variety of the supermarket and to pay for it. We have to note that they completely succeded in doing this. The volunteers only helped with advices which food is better depending on its quality, trademark and price.
But that was not all. The second stage was a visit to a grocery market. They managed to buy there everything quickly and rationally.
And finally we came home. Peeling vegetables, washing rice, preparing the necessary ware – every good housewife knows this and our girls showed all their best in cooking. And as the main goal was a self-dependent master-class, we, the volunteers, only limited ourselves to giving them pieces of advices and – actually – were doing nothing!
And in one our due to our diligent children bortsch and rice were ready. The experiment ended up successfully!
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Activities of volunteers in ‘Lubystok’, September-October 2007
We decided to present a brief report on our activities during these two months more generally and to unite different interesting events into three main spheres – economy and money, excursions and sports, if not to take into account our usual regular classes with children.
ECONOMY AND MONEY
It is not a secret that one of the typical problems for chilren leaving orphan houses is the total lack of financial knowledge. As a rule, on leaving an orphan house children receive their ‘orphan’s pay’ and often very quickly spend their money for completely unnecessary and inessential thing and practically they don’t know where to earn and how to save money.
That is why in the beginning of the new school year we decided to fill this serious gap in the knowledge of our children and held the round-table on “Economy, profession, career, money” where children had a chance to get the information on the money turnover and economy, where to find a job and how to spend money effectively. They received not only information but also could try with the profession’s tests, composing a CV, passing the interview and planning their personal budget. (We are ready to spread our informational materials also for other groups of volunteers planning to hold the similar lectures and seminars in their orphan houses.)
And in order to strengthen the theory on practice we organized an intersting excursion in the beginning of October to the bank where our children got a lot of information about finances and could ask the bankers any questions.
We are sincerely grateful to ProCredit Bank staff who helped us to organize such an excursion – Ms. Tatiana Piskova, head of brach No. 3 in Kiev, and Ms. Svetlana Piven, head of retail in branch No. 3 in Kiev, who very professionally told about banking, explained details and peculiarities of such banking products like credits, deposits and payment cards, advised children to read always carefully any agreements that they have to sign, answered with good sense of humour all the questions on bank’s security and stability and invited to start their career in financial sector which happened is in need of many professions – from IT-specialists up to book-keepers.
This excursion was held as a part of traditional educational campaign of the bank devoted to the World’s Saving Day. And taking this into account the volunteers made a small present to children – they opened personal saving accounts for small amounts of money so that children could learn how to save right now that they will possess coming of age. All of this is directed to the development of saving skills that are so needed by the teenagers who are used to spend a lot but very often don’t think about saving and accumulation of money.
EXCURSIONS
In the beginning of September our chilren visited traditionally the Kiev water museum (for those who have never been there before) where they examined with great pleasure all sightseeings of the museum – a well with frog-princess, big w.c. pan, cave with rain, thunder and thunderstorm, huge soap bubble and self-made streamlets and rivers. And the most popular part of the excursion – real Japanese carps, that can be caressed by visitors as home pets, the famous one is carp Vasya loved by all visitors.
After excursion we rode horses, made photos near the puppet theatre, visited the children’s café with very tasteful cakes and walked a bit along Kreshchatik.
And in the middle of September a couple of young girls were lucky to receive free tickets due to the initiative of volunteer Tanya and visited the Children’s theatre. Tanya, thank you!
At the end of September a few children went on a pilgrimage with our help to Chernigov that coinsided with the Glorification Day of St. Feodosyi of Chernigov. Young pilgrims visited Troitskyi and Preobrazhenskyi Cathedrals, Boldina mountain and Antonyi caves, as well as beautiful churches and monasteries of Koselets and Danevka and got a lot of new information about history, amazing events and miracles of their land, heroes and saints of past and present.
SPORTS
We added to our weekly sports classes a master class with professional carate couch Alexei that made a lot of fun and was held as a game. Alexei showed hao to attack, to defend and to avoid punches and told children that a real strong man should not boast himself about his strength and should not solve conflicts with power. We hope to organize such master classes at least once per months so that the chilren could improve both their techniques and physical shape.
By the way, we have a littel ground for pride for our children. Before the summer vacations we gave a table with time schedule for physical exercices for every day so that at the end of the summer they could pass a little test of physical shape. And we were very surprised that in autumn two elder children passed a test. And looking at their results now all younger kids are trying to show us each time when we come how good they are in sports.
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Pirogovo, August 24, 2007
We decided to celebrate the Independence Day in typically Ukrainian style, first, and somewhere in the countryside, second. And we could not find anything better than to go to Pirogovo national museum. Well said,
well done.
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Here we enjoy Podol country houses, being suprised by there furnishing and
the way our not such ancient grandparents managed to build there houses in a way that it was warm in winter
and cool in summer, without any conditioners. Astonishing, in one word.
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No modern landscape-design can compete with such a simple and built with love
and decorated with flowers small country house!
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"It's interesting how pigs could manage to get there" - were amazed our
kids and immediately decided to check the inner side of a small pig house.
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Here are three our beautiful young "ladies" near viburnum tree, a bit embarassed
by camera.
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Dancing and singing folks groups that came to this event gladly agreed to make photos with kids.
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And these nice young Huzuls hurried up somewhere but were stopped by us right on the road, however they did not refuse to make a photo with us.
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And we also rode horses...
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... and little pot-bellied ponies as well :).
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And the rest of time we spent in Huzul highlands, where we were searching for the water in a dried up well and thoroughly investigated this mill.
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Valera, August 2007
Huraaah!!! We have a good news - we were happy to know
that our Valera from 'Lubystok' managed to enter a painting college!!!
It was entirely possible only due to patience and big pedagogical talent of our volunteer Sasha
who came regularly during the year to kids, teached them basics of painting, held additional individual
classes with Valera and completely took over the whole process of preparation to the painting college.
Important was also the desire of the boy himself to become a painter. Valera showed before a big artistic
talent while drawing, making handi-crafts and (even!) sewing and embroidery being the only boy who enjoyed
it but due to systematic painting classes was albe to considerable increase his level in order to pass
the entrance exams and interview.
We sincerely wish him a big success on this way and we are very grateful to Sasha who managed to raise interest
towards painting within a most part of our kids. It's hard to believe that drawing in the very beginning typical
formless children's pictures, many kids learnt during one year how to make almost professional compositions,
how to play with light and form without loosing their children's spontaneity and intuition in works.
We hope that soon 'Lubystok' will shine with a bunch of young talents.
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Activities of volunteers in 'Lubystok', January-May 2007
Spring is over and we celebrate a small anniversary - one year of cooperation with our children's house.
During the second half-year we succeeded to do a great deal - i.e. regular classes with kids, opening of a new sports class,
first medical aid course, web-design classes, visiting cinema as well as many walks and excursions.
Now our children went to summer camps and we are a bit sad and already miss them. And we dream of new classes in new school year.
Asking kids what they would like to learn more we got known that most of them would eagerly visit Ball dances classes
(it might be caused by the enormous popularity of the TV program "Dances with stars").
So at the moment, beside tutors for extra-school classes - Ukrainian, English and Mathematics - we would be also glad to see a
teacher of dances as one of our volunteers.
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Picnic, May 2007
While we were solving some organizational aspects of
our picnic such as buying food and drinks, our kids did not lose time - they were teaching
grown-ups to play the game "Street of Pushkin, house of Kolotushkin..." - it was so strange
to face the fact that these well known by us from childhood games passed from one
into another generation of children almost unchanged.
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During the picnic we dreamed a bit and imagined that we are Robinson Crusoes on the isolated island,
discussed which habits and knowledge we would need on it, then made a fire all together and cooked such a tasty porridge that nobody hesitated to ask for some extra portion.
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After that we were doing a bit of sports. Of course, most of children made their best to show how good
they are, nevertheless there was one or two lazy guys who made a lot of efforts to show a sort of sportive
movements :). Then we learned how to bind knots, to fix a tourist tent and sang songs.
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In general, the picnic was quite successful, just loook at our satisfied faces at the end of this day :).
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Different events, spring 2007
You cannot even imagine how many places our kids
have visited when finally came nice sunny days. First of all, we went to
celebrate the Day of Europe in Kiev where kids observed with big interest tents of
different European countries, learnt some new phrases in German due to very friendly and
kind-hearted attitude of representatives of Austrian embassy in Kiev, as well as
took part in pictures competition organized by the embassy of Lithuania.
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Also we went to the Zoo, watched various birds and animals, and
even feeded baby animals. A giraffe on this photo is very small and almost invisible but
it did not prevent us from seeing him in details.
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"And ponies are also horses..."/do you remember this children song?/ -
of course, they are horses, but very small and loving kids. As for example this
nice pony :)
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And all interested persons had a chance to visit the Kiev Cave Monastery
a lot of times - to participate in the morning liturgy as well as just to walk along and
to admire its beautiful places and besides to visit the unique museum of miniatures of Nikolay Siadristyi
that is always an object of delight of children and grown-ups.
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Some children managed to join us in a pilgrim trip to Pochaev Monastery
and some of them discover other beautiful temples of Kiev as for example this newly built wooden church
named after St. Agapit. We hope to make such excursions regularly so that children could learn and feel
more deeply their history and religion. Because one thing is to read about it in the school textbooks
and quite another - to perceive it by yourself.
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Trip to dendropark "Sofievka", May 2007
In the end of May we were lucky to visit Ukrainian wonder-park Sofievka.
The weather was very friendly to us - warm and almost summer sun, no cloud in the sky - and wonderful
surprising and full of secrets park built by the enamoured count for his charming wife.
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We were very lucky with our guide Valeriya Mikhailovna who appeared to have been working for
many years in Uman agrarian university at the dendropark and knew history not only of all
sight-seeings of a manor of Pototkys but also of almost every plant and bush drawing our
attention to the peculiarities of flora of this wonderful park. And after the excursion
she sincerely thanked children for attention saying that this was the most disciplined and
interested group out of all excursions she ever had, and has invited to come to study as the biologist to Uman.
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It is impossible to describe all those places which were seen by children - statues, grottos, mini-Geneve
lake with a fountain, and how tasty was the crystal-clear water from small fontanels! But most of all we were
impressed by the underground lake of Aid - in the beginning it was so dark there so that all were embarrassed
and kept silent and only in a while started to check the grotto for an echo :).
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Activity of volunteers "Lubystok", September-December 2006
During this time we have done a great deal of work - we organized permanent groups of English, very popular among
children drawing classes and not less popular among girls classes of embroidery, and there was a possibility to provide
with private classes in mathematics, history and Ukrainian.
But not only studies… Among other things, we managed to organise for children interesting and informative excursions
to the Kiev water museum, Kiev Cave Monastery, entertaining centre for children "Dyvosvit" in Obolon district, skating
ring and Internet caf?, to visit "McDonalds" and sushi-bar. And the most talented and sportive children have a chance
to regularly visit a swimming pool and already surprise us with nice technique and high speed.
And how much fun the kids had during the Christmas event with the real Father Frost and Snow Maiden, gifts and sweeties
organized by the skilful Tatyana Vlasova! Maybe for the first time in life children have received as a gift exactly what
the wanted from the Father Frost.
We do not want to stop now and we dream both of new excursions and new classes - computer classes, web-design, lessons of
ball dances, some new sports classes (now children mostly play football), courses of practical skills and abilities, basics of
first aid help, practical psychology and conflictology.
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English
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