Progress in Canada

With Christmas nearing, we are working hard to wrap up our reports and dive into the next wave of activity. We are processing the assortment of information gathered in Ukraine, whilst working on the final editing of our International Best Practices Report! Work is largely desk oriented at present, but very busy. We are hoping these reports will serve a dual purpose: 1. to inform Canadians on what is going on with Child Care in Ukraine, and 2. to inform Ukrainian child care practitioners and government officials of the situation of their at-risk youth, discuss the strengths of the Ukrainian system, and offer suggestions of how to improve their system. We are working away on these reports hoping to have them ready for publishing by Christmas!

Our Life Skills Team is continuing to work on developing the modules for our curriculum! We have 3 modules well on their way, leaving 7 yet to be developed! So far we have covered maintaining the home, kitchen safety, and personal hygiene; meal planning and nutrition; and the program introduction with the development of group work and trust building! Each module is developed, the adapted to best suit the Ukrainian situation and culture, then written into a formal curriculum. Our final product will be a comprehensive package that we can hand over to the government to be broadly implemented in orphanages throughout Ukraine should the government choose to do so.

And so, our work on the Canadian side of things continues. The work is certainly accompanied with its frustrations and feelings of being overwhelmed. However, keeping in mind the ultimate goal of affecting child care in Ukraine and improving the life opportunities of at-risk youth is good motivation!

Some other points of interest:

1. World Hope Canada just completed their bi-annual meeting of the Board of Directors. After being updated on the progress of the LifeStart Odessa project, the Board re-affirmed our activity in Ukraine. 

2. Ukraine has been experiencing some anti-government protests this week, originating in Kiev, but spreading throughout the major urban centres of the country. I have been unable to find a reliable media report on the issue, but keep your eyes peeled for new developments!