The last people to arrive at camp on Friday were 6 boys from the Romaniv Boys’ Orphanage. Romaniv is an orphanage for disabled boys that Mission to Ukraine discovered hidden deep in the countryside a little over 3 years ago. Due to restrictive ideas and regulations from the government, these boys had been very neglected: locked in spartan rooms all day, some even chained to beds or chairs, very little human interaction except for each other (read World Next Door for more).
Inside the Orphanage
Fortunately that is slowly changing. After discovering the orphanage and its shocking conditions, MTU started visiting weekly, playing with the boys, loving them, teaching them, giving them therapy. And under the current director of the orphanage and MTU’s weekly visits, the conditions have drastically improved (although the conditions are still fairly deplorable compared to what they could be some day). And 6 of them were invited to camp.
During Friday’s check-in procedures for the first day of camp, every camper arrival was either a joyful reunion (those who had been before) or a quiet, expectant observation (with perhaps a bit of wonder and amazement mixed in with some fear of the unknown). But nothing compared with the arrival of the rock stars.
The Beatles?! Nyet, it's the Romaniv 6!
When the 6 boys arrived, it was sheer pandemonium. Joy, laughter, shouts, high fives, hugs, cheers. It might as well have been Bono arriving. Just about the only thing that didn’t happen were autographs and a red carpet. I think there were even some paparazzi hiding in the bushes. The whole place lit up.
Snapping Photos
4 days later that same contagious enthusiasm follows the rock stars wherever they go in camp. Making tie-dye hats . . . joyful! Eating borscht for breakfast . . . happy! Doing morning exercises . . . exuberant! Running relay races . . . ecstatic! Swinging on the swing . . . laughing! Passing them on the walkway . . . high fives! Making sock puppets . . . jubilant! Singing camp songs . . . elated! Eating more borscht . . . thrilled! Dancing to music . . . electrifyied! Giggles, laughter, smiles. Everywhere they go they leave joy in their wake.
Relay Races!
I sat behind them today during the morning session in the main hall. We were singing a song with fairly complex hand motions. I was watching them follow along and exuberantly and very forcefully doing the hand motions, usually about 1/2 beat behind! No matter, they love the music and leap to their feet the second it starts.
One of them can’t speak. One of them is deaf. One of them has a crippled hand. One of them has had multiple seizures since they arrived. None of them have parents. They’ve never known what it’s like to have a family, or a home. They are all very short for their age. They’ve never been to school. They have been discarded by society as irrelevant, or worse.
But for 8 consecutive days they are the bomb, the cat’s meow, the baddest of the bad, the hippest of the hip, the center of all attention. And boy, do they deserve it.
