I blogged that information on specialized (handicapped) Ukrainian orphanages and internats (orphanages for children 7 years and older) is available on the internet.

There is no grand conspiracy to hide the truth about these orphanages. Life is hard. I remember hearing of a Ukrainian orphanage in 2003... 25% of their children died from Chicken Pox. When a child's immune system is weakened due to poor nutrition... more

I am continuing to list the places to find information and photos on Ukrainian specialized orphanages and internats.

(Note: I am use the "cool stuff" photo because these bloggers are doing very cool things.)

Amber has a short piece about visiting Yolichka. This is a baby orphanage in the Crimean, but since they have AIDs babies, I counted them as specialized.

Next a visit to Donetsk.... I am pretty certain that Makievka... more

I am continuing to list the places to find information and photos on Ukrainian specialized orphanages and internats.

(Note: I am use the "cool stuff" photo because these bloggers are doing very cool things.)

I love the Hibs football (soccer) fans. This Scottish team traveled to Dnepropetrovsk Ukraine to play a match in 2005. And their fans decided to visit and drop some donations off at an orphanage. After seeing so much need at the orphanage, they banded together and created the Dniprokids.com... more

I blogged that information on specialized (handicapped) Ukrainian orphanages and internats (orphanages for children 7 years and older) is available on the internet. There is no grand conspiracy to hide the truth about these orphanages. Life is hard. Sometimes a child dies because "no one cared enough to buy $10 worth of penicillin".

(Note:... more

The International Social Service (ISS) completed an a 128 page assessment of Ukrainian adoption in October 2005. The backstory on why this report was produced is found here.

The ISS recommended.

A placement facility [for a child taken into state custody] should be selected as close as possible to the child's environment,... more

I shared a news story about the modern slave trade.. now know as human trafficking.

And I found a story about Hungary emerges as base for foreign organised crime groups. Hungary-Ukraine border experiences cigarette and human trafficking.

And I discussed Ukrainian... more

Terry Hallman (American living in Ukraine) wrote an blog/opinion piece that he titled Ukraine's Death Camps for Children. I really didn't like the emotional language that he choose to use.

I did an informal poll. I cannot find a single person (friend, family or stranger in the parking lot) who didn't think Holocaust when I said "death camp". But Terry and a few other folks... more

I adopted my darling daughter Natasha from Green Forest Orphanage in 2000. This yellow building is where my daughter lived for years. She was 3.5 years of age at time of adoption.

Green Forest Orphanage is specialized. I remember being told by the NAC (Ukrainian adoption authority in 2000) that my referral was at a specialized orphanage. I freaked just a little.

I was very emotional (as most... more

There is a man by the name of Terry Hallman (American living in Ukraine) who has written an blog/opinion piece that he titled Ukraine's Death Camps for Children. You can also find it here.

Terry posted his piece about 5 months ago and I have been thinking about a response.

First I need to start with why I HATE this writing. I don't believe the Ukrainian government is deliberately concentrating children into orphanages to KILL them.

Terry's language choice was unnecessarily emotionally inflammatory.

Buuuuut he has a couple of valid points... more

Here are some news stories that I am reading now.

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BIRD FLU

H5N1 - Avian Influenza in Ukraine for the Third Time in June in Sumy. In December 2005 it showed up in Kherson.

And now it is the Crimea. Really bad news for the chicken farmers. Russia has... more