What do you see above?
Look at them from a distance; look at them close-up. Look at their clothes. Look at the expressions on their faces. Look into their eyes. What do you see?
I see children. Each one has a story unique to him or her, as do all children. What they are at this time in their lives can be summed up in a few words. They are children. What will they be? How will they change? Where will they go?
The answers to many of these questions depend upon adults. How will we touch their lives? How responsible will we be toward them? Will we care? Will we reach out to them? Will we help them become the next generation who will run this world?
These particular 10 children will grow up in a Ukrainian orphanage/school. They are special children, not to say that every child is not special. They have special needs. One was born a crack-cocaine baby. Each child that you see has some type of learning disability. Each child either has a dangerous family environment from which they have been removed, has been abandoned by their parents, or their parents have died, leaving them as orphans. So they will grow up in the orphanage system with 146 other children similar to themselves.
Statistics tell a very sad reality of what happens to children after they leave the orphanage system in Ukraine. Prostitution, suicide, prison, and a life of crime waits for many of them. What can be done?
I don’t have many answers, but I have a few. MUCH has been gradually changing the lives of these children in small ways. Our biggest efforts are supported by our yearly Christmas fund raiser. Four big needs-based programs are touching the personal futures of some of the children. Massage therapy is changing the children from the inside out. The neurology of massage is habilitating and expressing love toward the children in a way never experienced by them before. Computer class is opening new avenues for the children, preparing them for a world of graphic art and word processing. The new music and dance opportunities will enrich the quality of the music arts in their education. Finally, the drug and alcohol program is molding the children in areas of morality, self image, and self respect.
I have stepped up to bat. I am helping these children in these ways. I believe in them. What will you do? Will you help our children through MUCH? Will you help any children? What will you do?
