Rockets and Rodeo!

After living and working in Ukraine, I knew what to expect working with orphans. I had visited enough orphanages in Ukraine to know the conditions and the atmosphere the children live in. While the orphan kids always loved visits from foreigners, their exposure to the possibility of life outside the orphanage was never encouraged, nor recommended.

UOO has brought an entirely new perspective to the process of loving orphans. This is a wonderful paradigm shift from traditional outreach to orphans! Meet the needs of not only the orphanage, but expose orphans to the outside world, giving them hope and purpose for their lives!

The kids showed up HUNGRY! It was exciting to watch their eyes light up as they each received their own Rooftop Rodeo water bottle, and filled their plates with everything yummy (even if Clarke made some of them eat green beans). Dinner was a hit and the kids ate a lot! (Especially Vlad, he’s a hungry growing boy). It was interesting to watch how over a simple meal, you could communicate through the language barriers with smiles and nods of agreement. II could see wonder all over the kid’s faces.

We often take the simple thing of enjoying our favorite snack or food for granted. It’s something so simple, and non-important in our lives. However, to these kids, the ability to enjoy their favorites of the dinner menu was great to watch. They went back as much as they want (or in Vlad’s case, until the beef was all gone).

The rodeo was interesting to say the least. We started off with a few “grumpy” campers while we waited for things to kick-off, but as soon as the horses came out, their faces lit up! Soon the “grumpy” campers were smiling and laughing as the cowboys were bucked off their horse. It was great to be the “fly on the wall”, taking in the experience through the camper’s eyes. There was such an innocent wonder in their faces.

If there was ever an easier thing to do than to love an orphan, I don’t know what that would be. Actions certainly speak louder than words. A hug, a friendly high-five, and a smile go a long way in their world. I’m still in wonder of their awe – their exposure to life outside the orphanage –their hope for something better than that which they have always known. The knowledge of hope is powerful.

- Kelly Schwalbert

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Rockets

Today, the the kids built rockets at the Stoetz house. This was a very hectic event, as building rockets has many steps. Nearly all the kids had a helper, but none the less, they all wanted to do it themselves. After an hour of miscommunications, missing pieces, and a few burns, we had ten rockets decorated and ready to fly. All the kids packed into three vehicles, and we drove to the baseball fields at Berthoud High School. First, Valera loaded up his rocket, and the crowd chanted “Three…Two…One…Blast Off!” He hit the little yellow button and watched with wonder and amazement as his rocket flew so high he could barely see it. He ran off into right field to try and catch it. One by one, each of the kids repeated the process, Three, two, one, go catch their rocket. Some of the rockets came down with a parachute, some of them without, and one even crash landed on a Mercedes. (The unsuspecting woman reading innocently in the car at the time was not very happy) This was a first for the kids, but most of the adults had done it before. In reflection, all of us remembered the time when we were in their shoes, lighting off our rockets for the first time. After all the engines were depleted, we loaded into the vehicles and learned the Ukranian word for candy on the way home (Which I have already forgotten).

Rooftop Rodeo

Another hectic thirty minutes at home, and the crew was off again. This time to Estes Park for their Rooftop Rodeo.

After an hour in an incredibly loud van scouring the mountains for elk or deer, we reached one of the local parks in Estes. All of the kids saw a youth soccer team practicing off to the side, and once they realized there was no soccer ball for them, there were more than a few unhappy moments. They got over it rather quickly and ran all around the park enjoying the swings, slide, and merry-go-round. We met for food, and all of them were hungry. Little Vlad ate three plates of beef, beans, watermelons, cornbread, and brownies! This was a meal where I saw no complaints, though not everybody used the barbecue sauce on the side. The kids found a boy at the park with a soccer ball and played “Ukraine Style” as Kris put it (on a tennis court surrounded by a chain link fence).

We filed in pairs up the street and around the corner, once one child was up Clarke’s shoulders, three more followed suit, Valera was tugging on my shirt not even thirty seconds later to be picked up. Through the crowds of people, we found the perfect seats, and the rodeo began. Most of the kids were mystified by the horse riding, as they did it earlier this trip, and they were full of laughter when the cowboys got bucked off the horse of the kids fell while mutton busting. Towards the middle of the show, some of them found more interest in cameras than the rodeo. I have fifty new pictures on my camera phone, I can tell what about seven of them actually are, four of those being close ups of my face! The bull riding ended the show with a bang, and we walked through a light drizzle back to the cars, with Valera once again on my shoulders. The kids were surely immersed in American culture at it’s finest during the rodeo!

As the day came to an end, I began to reflect. These kids are just that. Kids. There is no difference between these kids and yours at home. They are full of curiosity, they have favorites, they have dislikes, they are full of wonder and amazement, they have personalities. All these kids want is love, affection, and somewhere to fit in. I held hands with some of them, I held some of them on my lap, I rubbed some of their backs, I gave a few piggy-back rides, I talked to them (in English), and in return for my love toward them, I got a great big smile, a hug, a high five, but most of all, I got love back from them. That’s all that American kids need, and these kids are the exact same.

On a personal note, I want to thank Isaac and his wife for the rockets and all they put into this afternoon, Kelly for a great dinner and the rodeo tickets, and Kari for her help with their dentist appointments, and all the chaperones that helped today. Everyone was great to meet and awesome with the kids. Clarke and Kris, enjoy your day off tomorrow because you deserve it after taking in eleven kids and three translators for this camp. May God continue blessing UOO with great volunteers and donations for the kids!

God’s Blessings!

~Gerrek Zwickle

One Response to “Rockets and Rodeo!”

1. Kris says:

   July 8, 2010 at 8:54 am

   Thank you Gerrek and Kelly! Your support and help with the kids is so deeply appreciated! Gerrek, yes we enjoyed our 4 hours off to catch up with lots of things around the house! Looking forward to watching the kids enjoy the remaining part of camp! The name for candy is “coffeetka” (something like that…..)
   Kris Stoesz