Are you F***ing kidding me????

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Yep. I am ticked off. I have tried to contain my anger for this last week when the news came out. It's hard. Officially hosting has been off the table for quite some time. Unfortunately we did not get this news from the organization that brought me N and Y. I put the pieces together by reading information. According to Ukraine's Social Ministry, hosting has not been an option as long as Martial Law is in place. Basically, martial law is when the military and not civilians apply the law. Additionally, it means that males within a certain age range are not allowed to leave Ukraine and have to be available to fight if needed. 

Well, last week, Ukrainian Social Ministry made a public announcement. See this announcement below. I took a screen shot but the pic comes from this link https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/Intercountry-Adoption-News/-resumption-of-hosting-programs-in-ukraine.html#:~:text=On%20June%2011%2C%202022%2C%20the,abroad%20for%20health%20and%20recreation.

Basically, it is saying that Hosting programs can resume! YEAH! Right? Nope. Not so much. The highlighted section states that orphans are not ELIGIBLE to participate! WHAT?!? Are you kidding me? The children that would benefit the most from hosting are not ELIGIBLE. How frustrating is this? I cannot understand why the children with the greatest need would be ineligible to participate. Just another example where politics supersede the best interests of people, more importantly children. 

As a family, we have been struggling with when (not if) N and Y will return. Just last night, my oldest son, Hunter came into my bedroom and started crying because he missed them so much and wanted to know when they would return. The way that we get through this is to watch videos from when they were here. We smile and laugh and talk about them. We pray for their return. That is about the best we can do. 

I often struggle in silence. I think about the plans we had this summer together with them here - camping, soccer camps, water parks, farmer's markets and just hanging out. One business, that has been SO supportive, Industrial Dance Project in Crown Point (https://industrialdanceproject.com/ ) is having Parkour day and I had hoped and planned for Hunter, N and Y to attend! I even got T-shirts for all of them.... The day is this weekend. Sadly, they are not here. So I am left with T-shirts to remind myself of their absence. 

Struggling to find the words...

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This week has been a bit difficult. My sweet N turned 14 this week. He has been in the system since 2018 at least. He still remembers life before the orphanage. Not only has this kid had to deal with going into the system, he has been there for a good part of his life, with his siblings, travelled and visited different families and NOW, in the middle of a war. He has seen and lived through more than so many of us in his short life. I hope and pray that you had a good birthday (again, how is that really possible?). But I pray and hope that you know that we are thinking and praying for you daily.

I have not received any updates regarding anything for hosting. The organization has started to focus on hosting children from Malawi. We are still getting requests for help from many of the orphanages that we work with in Ukraine and we are doing everything we can. As far as I can tell, the Ukrainian government has extended Martial Law through the end of August. And because of this, hosting is on hold at least through then. 

It is so easy to forget that this war is going on. It is halfway around the world. Is it affecting us? Yes, financially. However, are we losing lives? Are we starving? Are we having to run to the basement when we hear the sirens? Please do not forget. We are witnessing history repeating itself. 

Stalin did this back in the 30's. Putin is doing it again - 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/24/world/europe/russia-ukraine-food-supply.html

Hitler committed Genocide. Current studies indicate that the rhetoric being used and the actions that have occurred are following this same path in Ukraine - 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/europe/russia-ukraine-genocide-warning-intl/index.html

Please. Help. 

My final day in Poland

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I had written this after spending the day in Warsaw but I never posted it. I have learned quite a bit about WWII and the Holocaust. I studied in Poland over 20 years ago and visited Auschwitz, Birkenau as well as Dachau. However,  I had learned minimal about the Warsaw Ghetto. We took the day and did a walking tour of the Warsaw Small and Large Ghettos. Warsaw is considered one of the youngest cities in Europe due to Germany leveling it towards the end of WWII. Warsaw made the decision to try to salvage what they could and what they could not, they built some of the buildings to look as if they had never been destroyed. Everywhere you turn there are constant memories of those who lost their lives. So many question how the Holocaust could happen and I learned so much:

• The Germans encouraged the separation of the Jewish and Poles and both groups believed the Germans so they went along with it (Jewish were told that the Poles would steal their money and the Poles were told that the Jewish had diseases). 
• The two Ghettos (Small and Large) were connected by a bridge (see picture in the movie below). This allowed people to cross from one ghetto to another (often to go to work as they were still required to work).
• Over time, the Germans provided less and less to those in the Ghetto, basically starving the people. Those that survived were transported to the train station and sent to working camps (for example, Auschwitz).