Leaves of Hope - Spring Convoy 2004

SPRING CONVOY 2004 - Refurbishment Programme (Part 1)

Three groups travelled overland on that miserable 3,000 mile journey this year. Group 1 involved four boys from the Llanrumney Youth Inclusion Project who had begged Manager, Lynda Williams, to let them take part in the, now locally famous, Belarus Experience.

It had originally been decided that we would be running just the one trip in the spring, and that was to be for adults only, but Lynda was due to retire from the YIP and, although determined to still be involved in the charity convoys, felt that she would like to pull in one last run where she had the responsibility for young people. It was a last minute decision but, with just three adults, the small team of seven set off for Minsk on the evening of 28 th March.

Despite what seemed like incessant arguing between the boys for the whole of the journey we made fantastic time, arriving at the Belarus border by the early morning of day two. There was little point in pulling in to stop at a motel now, and so it was agreed by all that we should push on through and by the afternoon of Tuesday 30 th March we had arrived at our hostel in Minsk.

The planned project for this trip was to build flower boxes to decorate the playground that we had built last year. So Lynda, Glenys and the boys set to work, treating the timber and then erecting the boxes ready to plant the mass of bulbs we had bought.

As always, everybody s favourite time is spent playing with the abandoned babies in the hospital, and Liam, James, Jo and Ryan were no exception. It was interesting listening to these 14 and 15 year olds express shock and dismay at the fact that there were babies being abandoned.

After taking them through all of the different stages of a typical abandoned child s life in Belarus - we visited everywhere, from the hospital to a babyhouse, from the babyhouse to an orphanage and from an orphanage to an adult asylum their shock turned to distress and the harsh reality of what these children endure paled their own personal problems almost into insignificance. Life suddenly took on a different perspective for them.

One of the highlights of this trip involved taking a group of nine orphans from Borovliani Rehabilitation Centre out for the evening. We went to MacDonald's for a meal and then onto the circus in Minsk. The children were so excited and it was great for the boys to be part of such a treat. We bought them popcorn and balloon hats and enjoyed watching them giggling at the antics of the clowns, gasping at the skills of the acrobats and clapping wildly at the tricks of the various performers. It was such a special night for us all.

Before leaving Minsk we made the traditional visit to the British Embassy. His Excellency Mr Brian Bennett was away, but ensured that we were to be well looked after by his second in command, Chargé D Affaires Mr Greg Quinn.
The boys were very shy throughout the whole meeting, but were extremely proud when Mr Quinn presented them with their Certificates of Achievement.

We are always very grateful to His Excellency and staff for their invitations and warm welcome, it gives the young people a huge sense of achievement and self worth and puts more value on what they have sacrificed and done for the Belarusian children.

The orphans from the Borovliani Rehabilitation Centre needed shoes badly and we decided that, instead of buying them for them, we would take them to the shoe shop to choose their own. Having the opportunity to go shopping to buy something for themselves was a new and wonderful experience and the joy was depicted in their faces. They were so proud of their new shoes.

We bought underwear and socks to finish the shopping off and said goodbye as they made their way back to the centre and we went back to the hostel to pack for home.

The journey home was much quieter. The boys were locked in their own thoughts for a lot of the time and we were very aware that when they did speak it was not to argue, but to ask questions about Belarus and its children. Since coming back they have been very eager to be involved in anything to do with the charity and its quest to help.

A huge thanks to:
Glenys Bath and Lynda Williams for their support throughout this tough and tiring trip.

And well done and thanks to the boys:
Liam Castillo, Joseph O Regan, Ryan Pring and James Tabbener.

We had managed to push straight through on the way home with the boys which gave me an extra day to catch up on some sleep before setting off again with the adult group.

Joining regulars Ann Lock, Lynda Rosser, Peggy Murphy and Malcolm Bates were two new lads Ben Read and Kyle Newton who were work colleagues at Economy power in Cardiff. Ben had been following the Leaves of Hope trips on the website for some time and had decided it was time for him to join us. When Ben told Kyle about it he was very keen too, and the lads gained a lot of sponsorship from work including getting the company to sponsor them.

There were two main jobs to be done now. The first was to finish off the flower boxes made by the boys, by decorating boards with paintings of colourful plants which could then be screwed to the inside of the boxes. The idea of this was to give the sick children in the hospital, colour outside all year round.

The girls set to work on that whilst the men started on the second job which was to demolish the bathroom and toilet area of the orphans unit in the Rehabilitation Centre. It was very hard work and the blisters and cuts on their hands proved it, but the children needed a bathroom as soon as possible and the sooner we had completed the groundwork, the sooner Sergei and Sasha, our faithful workmen, could start rebuilding.

The girls finished their job well before the men, but I needn't t have worried, because they immediately picked up chisels, hammers and buckets to help. The biggest problem seemed to be the fact that the tiles had all been stuck onto the walls with concrete! The blisters just got bigger and bigger!

The team's hard work paid off though, because when we walked into the centre in August we were thrilled to be greeted with this bathroom in the place of the appalling room we had demolished.

We had arrived in Minsk on Easter Sunday and, having dumped our bags at our digs, were eager to rush to the centre to see the children. We were all terribly upset to see that these delightful children were sat at desks in the classroom they call home. Although the orphans go out to school in the daytime, evenings, weekends and holidays are spent here. The staff are wonderful, and show so much care for them, but they cannot produce a home environment with no resources.

The other painfully obvious thing about the children was the fact that they had no toys whatsoever to play with. Carley Woods, the young Police Officer who had joined us for her second trip at Christmas, had sent some money to Ann for her to buy whatever she felt appropriate to enhance the lives of these children.

Ann had used the money wisely and bought a large selection of toys and games in Britain and we brought a few in to start the fun. The rest we brought into the centre gradually over the week.

The atmosphere in the room changed immediately, and the place was alive with sounds. The clattering of Hungry Hippo, the clanging of the table football game and the laughter of Twister were a delight. When it was time for us to go, we left the poor teacher with a thundering headache caused by the unusual surge of noise we apologised first, but we could see that she truly didn't t mind. It was as good for her to see happy children as it was for us.

As well as fulfilling our set tasks we made sure that Ben and Kyle met as many of the children whom we now class as our own , as possible. We took them to Barissov Babyhouse to see Ilya and Vadim, two babies that we have watched grow whilst they were in the abandoned baby unit of Borovliani hospital. Vadim has now been adopted by a Belarusian couple, but Ilya still waits.

Barissov is home to about 100 abandoned babies and the lads, as we all do, found it difficult to cope with the thought of so many unwanted children, particularly when they also witnessed life at an orphanage and an adult asylum.

We are aware that the staff of these institutions are so often very caring and want to give their wards a better life, it is simply circumstances that prevent them from doing so.

The team forged strong bonds with the children living at the rehabilitation centre and, once again, it was difficult to say goodbye. For the majority of these children we would not be seeing them again. At present the centre is for short-stay where children are helped through the trauma of being orphaned and the circumstances that surround it before being placed in a more permanent home, whether it be with a foster family or in an institution.

The Director, Alla Victorovna, is a very strong supporter of the Leaves of Hope Fostering Project and Prevention Project and tries desperately to prevent children from moving into orphanages. It is her aim to ensure that those that cannot be placed within a family environment should stay at the centre where they will be taught life skills with a view to them taking their entitled role within society when they reach maturity. Our intended future projects at the centre will help her to achieve that.

Our thanks go to:
Malcolm Bates, Ann Lock, Peggy Murphy, Kyle Newton, Ben Read and Lynda Rosser.