just a little info

So, as you know I will be leaving for Eastern Europe in about two weeks.
Wanted to give a bit of background on who I am working with, and what we will be doing....
First I will be going to Belarus with my partner in crime, Kathy Ryan (aka Kat) throughout Belarus with Chernobyl Children International.
http://www.chernobyl-international.com
 I first hooked up with them with last year for a charity initiative, and traveled to Belarus to see first hand the amazing work they are doing. CCI is committed to offering programs that offer families alternatives to institutionalizing their children and allow these children to be raised in loving homes of their own. We will be going to these "homes of hope", meeting with the families and documenting the stories of these children for the first time. These stories are so important, not just for their historical significance, but also for the encouragement  and inspiration they give to others to invest in this life changing program. I have to say that the work they are doing is worthwhile and absolutely necessary, and it has taught me so much about the devastation that the Chernobyl accident has caused in Belarus. It is ongoing, and the repercussions will be there for many years to come.

After Belarus I will be traveling to Russia to hook up with my second partners in crime, Julie Clark and Amy Buchman with Doma International.
http://www.domaconnection.org/
Doma International works with vulnerable women and children in Ethiopia, Uganda, Russia, and now Ukraine! We are going to Russia to hopefully open a new region to Doma programs, and also to connect with young orphan moms in the Kostroma region.
These are young girls who have taken on the role of motherhood completely on their own. Most of them are orphans themselves. Doma would like to break the cycle of orphans before it starts, and give them loving support, social services, parenting skills, and hope.

In Ukraine we will be meeting with an orphanage that would like to house a new Young Mothers program. We will be setting the foundation for opening a place for young orphan moms to live with their babies while they get on their feet, offering an alternative to placing them in the orphanage system. They will have the support of a social worker, and have guidance that is all too lacking. This will be our first project in Ukraine, and so many meetings have to take place. We hope to have the program up and running by June:)
I am very honored to be working with Doma, and the work we are doing is so rewarding on so many levels........very excited about the direction we are going!
So, there you have it......three countries, so many opportunities, and  I hope you will follow and see what lies before us in the next month.