Thursday, August 21, 2014

Getting Ready for Ukraine, Armenia and Poland - Has Been So Fun!

We are in the final days of preparation before we leave for our trip overseas. Getting ready has been so much fun!   We will be taking trainee prizes like we have never taken before.We show you in a minute. (If you know me, you know I am not the crafts type, but I have been unleashed :) )

During our time there we will be training through the International Leadership and Development Center/ LAMb International for the first part of the trip. Then we join the Orphan's Promise staff in Kiev for three days of training with their centers from all over Ukraine. They are expecting about 60 of dedicated folks who care about the welfare of vulnerable children - now more than ever in Ukraine is this needed. We met many of them last year while there. These days will be follow up to our series on trauma competent caregiving, adding teen material and learning how to conduct nurture groups.  We then move on to Armenia with Orphan's Promise to train their staff on the first part of our  trauma competent healing caregiving.

Following our work with Orphan's Promise in Armenia, we will be spending a week working with some very special friends in Warsaw, Poland.  This is our fourth visit to this very special country and we so look forward to this continued partnership.

Now to the trainee prizes.   I was inspired by two friends of mine, Mary Vacario and Carol Huggins- Mitchell during their trauma training last week. They had with them magnets with powerful statements on them as prizes for the group.  I thought to myself, that would be cool to make for our trip.  And the idea grew and grew.  So now what you will see below are pictures of the mugs, buttons, and magnets that are going with us.  The ones below are in Russian, but they are also almost ready in Armenia and Polish. The front room has been a mess- a very fun mess! Get ready Back2Back - Spanish and Creole are next!

"Behavior is the language of children with no voice"  Dr. Karyn Purvis 

"Connect before you correct"    or "For children, presence matters."

The Safety Script Magnets
Everything Russian 


We do ask your prayers as we go as we take our time with these precious people very seriously.  We go simply to speak those things God would have us to into their lives.