Hope for Each, Group home parents and staff meetings

Every Thursday we have Hope for Each staff meetings, Victor Dantsev is here then, and he is the head of the board with Garry as a director of the Ukrainian humanitarian organization that was set up this spring for the trade school.(For those wondering about the container of goods shipped from BC that spearheaded this change, it's finally in Kiev!)

The name was chosen to reflect our roots with New Hope Center, which was our founding organization set up by Canadian missionary John Wiens, whose dream it was to have a trade school for orphans where they could learn life skills by living with Christian families along with studying a trade. John hoped to add more trades, like baking, which he felt would be more attractive for female students after the dairy track was established. Of course, right now there are nine girls and only five guys in the dairy program!

Karina, Leila, Luda, Julia and Ksenia

Meet our group home parents 

 Luda, has been a group home parent since the beginning of the program in 2012 at the "the girls house". Since now all our group home parents double as instructors, she teaches a class on Christian ethics. Her adult daughter Ksenia lives with her and does the Computer class. Right now she has two returning students and one new student. Garry hopes to build a small addition unto this first house, which is not ideally set up for a group home, with a separate area for the family, by adding two bedrooms at the front, so that six students can live there in future.

Top student Andrey, parent Andrey, Ira and Kolya
bottom Sasha and Nikolai, missing Valera

Andrey and Ira were added to the program during the off year while we revamped the program and are at "the boys house" with their teenage daughter. This year they have four young men returning for the second year of the program and one new student. Andrey teaches mathematics and Ira will teach health this year, she trained as a doctor (anesthesiologist.)

Sergey talking about his class, Larissa is behind him

The newest group home parents, Sergey and Larissa,  live in the "new house" and have two daughters, They had left eastern Ukraine and were living in a church as refugees. All the students really like them, he will teach a class on relationships and she will teach sewing and personal care. We were invited over to celebrate their anniversary last night with tea and poppyseed cake. We even saw a DVD of their wedding. Garry told them that now they have eight children, as there are six of the new girls living there.









Last week the meeting was held in the living room of the new group home, and I took a few pictures. The group parents, Victor and Garry, Maria, Garry's assistant (she takes care of making all phone calls about prospective and current students, and does a lot of the paperwork, along with translating) and Max Rudei, farm manager, who oversees student work, all come to the meetings which start with devotions and have discussions about scheduling and general policies for students, and outings, and finish with prayer.

Maxim, who supervises student work

The Staff Picnic

 Saturday evening Victor and is daughter Dasha joined us for a group home family picnic at the pond, here are some photos. It was 37 C (close to 100 F) so some people enjoyed a dip in the pond before shaslik (BBQ kebobs) and chicken wings and many side dishes brought by everyone. The party broke up around 8 pm, when it was dark and the mosquitoes came out!

Garry and Victor were in charge of cooking

lots to eat!