Events of the Day:

Day 2 found us back in motion - this time a van ride to the Chernigiv Region to meet children from Gorodnya who were staying at a summer camp in the forest outside of town. It was almost unbelievable, but Alyona was waiting at the gate to greet us. She had not eaten breakfast and knew we would be arriving this day or the next based on her conversations with our friend Olga. Alyona was still the beautiful teenager we had to put on the plane at Dulles after her visit with us over the Christmas holidays. All of the children we met appeared happy & healthy. The photos on this day's slide show are only a select few of the digital snapshots we took. We have many more digital and 35 mm photos that we can share with anyone interested after we return to the USA.

Day 2 was also a long day - Chernigiv, the regional capital is about 2.5 hours by car and Gorodnya is another 30 minutes to an hour beyond Chernigiv. Traffic was light as June 30 was the Ukrainian holiday of Constitution Day. The major roads from Kiev to Chernigiv are comparable to the US state highway system - open road with the occasional reduction in speed limits while passing through small towns. For some stretches we were at 100 km/hr (60-65 mph) but most areas were about half that speed. Anyone who complains about the condition of I-80 & I-81 through PA should be forced to drive the Eastern European versions of a highway system before passing judgment.
The road from Chernigiv to Gorodnya and especially the farm road to the camp were much worse. The farm road from the main highway to the camp was about 20-30 minutes of rural scenery and an exciting game of dodge-the-pothole/dodge-the-locals. The 10 passenger van we were riding in was adequate for the trip, but we found ourselves longing for the suspension of a good full-size SUV.

The children in the camp seemed healthy, but bored. The activities we observed were generally free-play with most of the boys kicking soccer balls in what looked like an eternal warm-up session before a game. The girls were happier sitting and talking or playing with their pets - dogs and cats brought from the orphanage or strays found locally. The children are provided with money from the government and many walk the more than a few miles into the local village to buy personal items and we saw some of the older children along the road. During our short stay, it was hard to judge the overall condition of the camp, but it was obvious that most of the children preferred to be elsewhere.