Hello family and friends,
It has been a challenging year and a half with the pandemic. We pray that all is on the mend in your lives and those that you love. Sveta and I looked back on our adventure with leaks in our house while the second floor was being added. At the time, it was a great challenge. The Bible helped us keep things in perspective. 1 Peter 5:10, NASB: “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
Mark’s Moments
Dobromel Orphanage
The seaside camp in Odessa region receives special needs children from special need orphanages throughout Ukraine. The Dobromel Orphanage sent their twenty true orphans to this seaside camp in the Odessa region. Something special happens when children see the vast sea in front of them. It is the biggest bathtub they have ever seen. This bathtub is more like a carnival ride, with never ending waves, whitecaps, sand bars and breakers.
In the Carpathian Mountains, our children are used to a very different environment. At the beach, the children are investigating an entirely new ecology. They are introduced to sea creatures that live in shells, sand crabs, star fish, sea horses, and many more kinds of life are there for them to experience.
Natasha, our massage therapist, and another staff member at the orphanage accompanied the children. After missing going to camp last summer because of COVID-19, it is a pleasure for these two to accompany the children!
Sveta’s Journey
Physical Leader Clinic In Chornomorsk
During five years Ilya has been undergoing a massage program, including special physical exercises to master new motor skills. This helps him to improve his coordination of movements and the quality of balance. Ilya’s mother celebrates the success of her child in reading and mathematics, improved memory and attention!
Dr. Natalia’s team works with each child in a comprehensive manner. Massage therapy, physical exercises aimed at acquiring or improving motor skills that are not developed, and specific massage therapy to improve speech. Parents are instructed on how to help their child at home, maintaining results between massage treatments. Usually this is a long process. During the massage treatment, the massage therapist works with the parents to recommend certain physical exercises to consolidate the results achieved.
Three-year-old Misha suffers from microcephaly (a significant decrease in the size of the skull and, accordingly, the brain). He has a delay in motor and speech development. For Misha, this was the first course of massage treatment with Dr. Natalia. Before meeting her, the child’s mother took Misha to various rehabilitation centers, including the famous Gold Angel Center in Odessa, without results.
To his mother’s delight, she saw clear results after the third massage of a fifteen day treatment program. The results were: Misha became calmer and more attentive, and she also noticed an improvement in his speech. Many parents of children with disabilities watch anxiously to see the slightest changes in their child. Misha’s mom is very grateful to our mission and sponsors for such a wonderful opportunity that opened up for her son! Dr. Natalia and her team will continue to work with Misha. They watch most attentively as Misha shows positive dynamics.
Living my dream,
Sveta
We are so grateful to all of you who sponsor our children, making it possible for them to receive massage therapy treatment and complimentary exercise. The children thank you. Their parents are, at times, speechless when they see the results.
When MUCH began in 2004, there were no treatments available for children with disabilities. We began by setting an example of what could be done. We showed a new “quality of life” and value toward these children. The massage therapists whom God has prepared for MUCH to enable are showing their communities new hope through their work. Change is taking place in the live of the children, their parents, and their communities because of you contributions, prayers, and sharing of our stories. All of us in Ukraine thank you for your focus upon our children!
Blessings of love and healing,
Mark and Sveta
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