Next visit

Dates for the next visit to work on Transition House will be Sat 18th May - Sat 26th May 2013. 

Names now being taken, to sign up email odessaproject12@gmail.com or speak to Paul, John or Ben.

Why not do it now!

John

Thank you!

Many thanks to everyone one who helped at the bag pack on Saturday, thanks to Tesco Warndon Villages for allowing us to attend and thanks to the shoppers who were generous in their donations, which amounted to £240.

This money will be passed on to Grace Baptist Church in Ukraine to purchase more materials to help complete Transition House.

John

Odessa Project - What's it all about?

Odessa is situated on terraced hills overlooking a small harbor on the Black Sea in the Gulf of Odessa, some 443 km (275 mi) south of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

It has a population of more than 1 million people. The city's location on the coast of the Black Sea has also helped to create a booming tourist industry in Odessa

Like most eastern European countries , Ukraine has a huge problem in the form of homeless children. It is estimated that there are up to 5000 homeless children living in the city of Odessa alone (source 'Odessa Guide.com'). Many take shelter in underground sewers, which usually results in them turning to street crime, drugs, prostitution and other forms of abuse.

What can be done?Homes can be provided for these children, as well as helping them get an education and gain employment so they can stay off the streets.

What is being done?

Grace Baptist Church in Odessa has an orphanage which currently houses around 40 children. These children are given shelter, food, clothing and, most importantly, love. Now the Church are building a Transition House for the children to move into when they become teenagers, thus allowing more children to be adopted into the orphanage. Once complete, this Transition House will house around 70 young people as they seek employment and their own accommodation.

How have we been involved?
In 2008, some men from Gwersyllt Congregational Church, Wales sought to put their faith into action and organised a practical work project to help with the construction of the Transition House. Since then, teams of men have gone out to help with the building work and have taken finances for the building materials.  In September 2011 a team of men from Woodgreen went to Odessa with men from Gwersyllt Congregational Church to carry out building works at Transition House. 

This year teams have gone out in May and September and plans are being made to go back in May next year. All team members self fund their trip, all money raised by donations is passed on to the church in Odessa towards project costs. We do not deduct any administration costs from donations.

Who goes?

A very diverse group of men have gone out to Odessa so far, including a plumber, two preachers, a software engineer, a retired police officer, mechanics, civil servants, a student and a BT engineer to name just a few. The age ranges from early 20's to (early?) 60's. No building experience or knowledge is required as everything is learned on site.

How can I get involved?

·         Support this project in the future, email us at odessaproject12@gmail.com for more information.

· 

 Thank You

We would like to thank you for your interest in the Odessa Project. All donations are used towards the project with no deductions for administration.

Updates

A group of young people from Woodgreen Evangelical Church will be doing a bag pack at Tesco, on Warndon Villages, Worcester this Saturday between 11am and 3pm to raise funds for the Odessa Project.

If you are local why not come along and support them by having your shopping packed for you.

Look forward to seeing you Saturday.

John

Home again

After a very early start from Odessa the team arrived at London Gatwick airport just before 1pm on Saturday. Flights were on time and the only hiccup was trying to locate our bags in Kiev where they went to a different terminal to us, but after an 800m walk across the airport we were reunited with our bags and able to check in for the flight to London.

All looked good until we hit the M25, there then followed almost 6 hours of sitting in slow moving and stationary traffic caused by several accidents. We finally arrived back in Worcester just before 10pm!

However the journey home did not spoil our enjoyment of the trip. We had a fantastic time working and meeting friends, new and old.

Further update will follow with some photos of our trip.

Thursday - nearly done!

It's lunchtime on Thursday and we're nearly done! By nearly done I don't mean the building, just our week here and the small projects we've been entrusted with. 

There was no update yesterday because we didn't get chance during the day and took the lads from transition house bowling in the evening. They had a great time and so did we. The highlight of the evening was watching Sam try to teach the lads to spin bowl the ball and then watch them try, with varied success!! 

Yesterday we were joined for the day by Gabe, an American missionary who came out to join the team in Odessa with his wife and daughter 18months ago. They're in the process of learning the language and helping out in the children's home, playing games, doing crafts and teaching the Bible. He spent the day with us helping to translate, and some of the guys had a useful meeting with our hosts discussing how we can support them in the future, which wouldn'tve been possible without Gabe! He came bowling too, we showed him how to play!

After spending time in the Bible this morning as a team we've been encouraged to get as much done as we can today, so we're working hard so we make as much progress as possible before we leave. Please be praying for our energy and concentration levels!

Back to it...!

Tuesday

It's hot and sunny here in Odessa, which makes transition house very warm! Just on our lunch break after a mornings hard work. After correcting all yesterday's mistakes the teams cracked on where they left off yesterday. Progress has meant that plasterboard and ceiling tiles are now going up.          

                                                                                                           

Richard had the first injury, drilling a screw into his thumb! Nothing to worry about though, he plastered it up and carried on.                 

                     

Tonight we eat here at transition house and tomorrow we're being joined by some American missionaries who will help us translate, so there should be less gesturing, pointing and nodding!!

Right back to work.