Dana L. Yeoman, DDS

Dentures and Implants

The Power of a Smile to Transcend Borders Part 22

 The recurring emotion I felt on my trip to Ukraine 
 was a sense of “I cannot do enough.”  Looking 
 poverty in the face, in the form of a child, is heart 
 breaking.  People have asked me if I wanted to 
 adopt a child or two... or twenty.  Yes!  However, the 
 Ukrainian government protects their orphans from 
 predators and traffickers, which is a wonderful 
 thing.  The side effect is, it costs an average of 
 
$40,000 for an American to adopt a Ukrainian child. This 
 process takes six months to a 
 year to go through legalities.  
 Even so, the courts may decide 
 last minute that the Americans 
 make unfit parents, and deny 
 the couple the right to take 
 home the child.  Many broken- 
 hearted would-be parents have 
 gone home $25,000+ poorer, 
 missed six months of work, and 
 still had no child to nurture and care for. 

 The best way for us to care for 
 the greatest number of children was to get support from our 
 friends at home.  We had witnessed the abysmal situation 
 at Mostysche Orphanage and took our stories home to share 
 with everyone we knew. 
 
By Christmastime, Smile Alliance International, the 
 organization with whom I traveled to Ukraine, had sent 
 about 800 pounds of clothing, toys, and towels for every child 
 in Mostysche, donated mostly by our respective churches.  My 
 CPR instructor even brought a box full of goodies 
 that would light up the eyes of many children.  The 
 second shipment included twenty more cardboard 
 boxes, and even more hand-carried by subsequent 
 Smile Alliance teams. 

 When I returned to Mostysche, I sensed something 
 had changed.  With loving American families 
 backing us financially, we were able to give every 
 child a warm jacket for the cold winters.  Better yet, 
 
the girl who only owned sandals was given a pair of 
 warm winter boots along with all the other ninety- 
 nine boys and girls she lived with. 

 Hot water heaters were installed.  We saved up 
 $3,500 to buy a new industrial-sized washing 
 machine which washed, rinsed, and had a spin 
 cycle.  This was a huge improvement over their 
 1960’s model that only washed.  Progress was 
 marching slowly but steadily for Mostysche. 

 A beautiful project for the children had been 
 conceived by the lovely Grandma Rosa from 
 Ellensburg, WA.  Rosa was the mother to Vicki Nelson, the 
 leader of our team.  She wanted to do something for these children, 
 and decided she would like to make blankets from colorful 
 fleece.  To make them uniquely identifiable, Grandma Rosa got 
 the idea to sew a pocket on each blanket, individually decorated 
 with buttons, ribbons, lace and appliques.  Soon, her friends and 
 relatives wanted to join in and decorate a pocket, using their 
 creativity to make each one original.  A search on eBay 
 resulted in hundreds of inexpensive Beanie Babies, each 
 one finding themselves tucked into a colorful pocket to be 
 delivered to a comfort-starved child. 

 This picture only begins to tell the  story of the results.  Have you 
 ever seen an eight year old boy in such ecstasy over a red blanket 
 with butterflies?  It was such a humbling joy to be there to help 
 hand out Grandma Rosa’s blankets to grateful little hands.  
 During the cold nights, they could snuggle inside and find comfort in a physical symbol of a grandma’s love. 

 This was the first time I felt hope overcoming the 
 despair in the halls of Mostysche.  They continue to 
 be supported by Smile Alliance, and are only one of 
 the many needy orphanages we help.  

 After such an emotionally exhausting experience 
 for me, it was a blessing to know we would be 
 visiting the Baby Orphanage next.