Ukraine Packing Night - April 8, 2010

We packed for Ukraine the Thursday night before we left on Saturday. Packing night is always an experience... How much can we fit in each bag before the bag is over the 50 lb. weight limit? How can we make all of these pounds and pounds of paper and binder handouts for caregivers, staff, and parents fit without being over the weight limit? How can we break down these wheelchairs and make them fit in a single suitcase? Oh my goodness! It's so much stressful fun (if you can put those 2 words together)!

A shot from above... Kym taking apart a wheelchair, Abby organizing, and Christie sorting braces.

Amy and I know this is not really going to fit, but we MAKE it fit anyway! Nobody open the bag once we get it zipped!

The train of suitcases tradition. I'm not really sure why we do this, but we HAVE to have a picture of it. Ha!

Amy was our official "weigher". She weighed herself and then weighed the bags. By the end of the night, our subtracting skills were waning. It took all of us to figure out what the bags weighed, and of course we knew it wasn't exactly accurate...

It seemed like Christie sorted through braces and shoes all night long. We had so many people donate shoes and braces that were put on so many children needing them in Ukraine. It's amazing how God works through so many families here to serve children there.

After the TEAM Knockouts softball game that night, many of our therapists and staff came to pray for us, the trip, and the children, staff, and families we would be touching. The spirit of God was definitely with us. It was an emotional experience with not a dry eye in the place.

This is one of the wheelchairs that amazingly fit just perfectly into a suitcase. Kym also managed to break down a stander to fit in a suitcase. This was priceless as it was used as a model in Ukraine to make many more while we were there. The work has carried on since we left, thanks to the awesome people we know over there!

Christie's putting together binders for the orphanage staff. These binders included milestone development charts for gross motor, fine motor, and speech/language; ideas for facilitating milestone development in all 3 areas; and many more handouts targeting specific exercises for all 3 disciplines. A DVD was also included that showed the specific exercises being conducted in therapy sessions. We wanted them to be able to continue the exercises and training after we were gone. What's most important is what happens after we leave.

Amy's putting together handouts for speech/language. We had handouts for oral motor exercises, verbal vs. non-verbal communication, instructions for how to use cleft palate bottle feeders, instructions for beginning a picture exchange communication system, and more. I can't remember them all at this point. But of course we saved them all to modify and add to for future trips. It's so hard to prepare beforehand everything you think you'll need while you're there. Inevitably you think of things while you're there that you wish you had.... Each trip improves a little on the needed materials and documentation.

We had so many donations of toys and therapy materials. It's so much fun going through everything and thinking about how it can all be used for not only therapy, but also general growth and development for these kiddos.

I love this picture of Kym's truck. It has standers, wheelchairs, and walkers in it from which the PT's chose the ones we took to Ukraine. It was loaded down, and we couldn't help but laugh when we were looking at it. This equipment is so scarce in Ukraine. It's worth more than gold to those children who get fitted to the various items.

After packing everything, we ended up with 17 checked bags, 6 walkers that we carried-on with us, and our backpacks that we carried our own personal items in. All divided among 8 people - 2 PT's, 2 OT's, 2 Speech, Amanda, and Gregg (the equipment guy). It's an amazing journey we take. Stay tuned - more to come! Next up is some interesting travel occurrences. :)