Maggie married/we dig a well/meeting a mayor/trainings and our new office.

Maggie got married! Her husband and his family are wonderful people. Those of you who have followed my newsletters since the beginning have seen many photos of Maggie. Here she was when I first met her in 2005, and then last weekend at her wedding.

Below, Maggie and Mariam.

Ukraine has is a program for providing an assistant to any special needs child. (Many kids from orphanages can have special needs). Most parents don't know about this. School administrators don't want to be bothered, teachers don't want these kids in the classroom. The easy solution always was to send them to the Orphanage. We are trying to change that system by meeting and working with the Mayor's office in Mikolaevka and local social services.

We are training social workers, educators and administrators in the justice system, local staff for family support and family control, as well as the families. Our hope is that success in Mikolaevka can lead to success in other regions. Below we sign the contract.

Our training of parents, foster parents in Odessa region is limited to 10 people at a time.

This past week with the help of extra donations, we paid for a well for a family of eight, mother and seven kids. Some photos below of the mother, farm animals, workers digging the well, two of her children, and me getting a ride with her husband on the motorcycle.

We just rented office space for consultation with families and trainings of foster parents. $400 a month. It's the first time we have rented office space. It's three rooms plus a back porch that's enclosed. Below our friend Misha puts in drain lines for the sink.

About COVID: People wear masks in some stores. You can't buy products at the grocery store without a mask. One training was canceled because a participant tested positive. Otherwise, I don't hear a lot of talk in taxis and from friends about people getting sick or testing positive. I stay out of buses and away from crowds.

Grace and Peace,

Dr. Robert Gamble D.Min, PC(USA)

Executive Director, thischildhere.org