The Keenes' Blog

                                 




As some of you know, I (Helen J ) had an opportunity to travel to Ukraine a couple of times in the last year and be a part of the interview team for a non-profit organization called Project 143. http://www.P143.org 

 

Project 143 is an orphan hosting organization and we bring kids from orphanages across Ukraine, Latvia, and China to US for both summer and winter holidays to place them with families. In order to identify which children get to come, we have interview teams travelling twice a year to each country to visit the orphanages, meet the children, find those who would be good candidates for hosting, and make visits with local officials and promote hosting programs in each of these countries.

 

On such a trip last September I met Yaroslav, Raya, and Kolya. These are intense, little sleep, lots of road and train travel, crazy trips that are further complicated by the realization that you are meeting dozens and dozens of kids in each orphanage every day and your decision of which ones are being put on “the list” ultimately determines who gets a chance at a family, either a temporary one for the holidays or for some lucky few a permanent one if their hosting leads to adoption. You meet all sort of kids, funny, sad, withdrawn, scared. You put a “no” next to some names and a possibility next to others. You get to play god and you pray that your decisions are guided by the Higher power and it’s ultimately going to be OK.