Tonight my translator and I leave on the train for Zaporizhzhia which is 14 hours southeast of Kyiv. In the morning we will visit a 5- and 6-year-old in the orphanage there. In the afternoon we will head east to Mariupol to see a few 7-year-old boys. This area is on the Azmov Sea near the border with Russia.
I have mixed feelings about looking at older children. I know there are benefits like knowing more about their health and personality, but there are the effects of long-term institutionalization that concern me. It was very difficult at the Adoption Center yesterday when all of the children in the books were much older than what I was looking for. And all the younger children had very serious health problems. There just are too many families all wanting the youngest possible kids.
So I am staying open to the possibilities and I'll see what happens. I can travel to several other regions if necessary.
Otherwise I have been very comfortable and am enjoying some free time here before we get on the train tonght.
Ruth
in Kyiv