We had a press conference with the local media and radio and I was relieved to find their questions direct and valid to our cause. We had Tanya translate for us during the interview. It went for about an hour and then we were off to see the orphanage.

We rode for about 10 km out of town when we reached the town of new zelesa and met the director of the orphanage ludmilla. The whole town had been relocated because of the Chernobyl disaster and the orphanage was opened in the kindergarten due to a lack of students in the area. It seemed that the houses were all the same had served their purpose without sparing any extras. The orphanage was situated in front of a statue dedicated to the relocated people.

i had left the crowd to see a little closer. The statue was set back a little ways on a small plot of land tat had graded over the years. There was a space for a flowerbed that had been barren for years. Beside the statue which was overgrown with weeds was a bouquet of flower that looked like I had been there for couple of years. It felt like this statue didn’t belong there anymore.

We continued to our next stop which was another town that had to be relocated. The mayor of new korogod explained that the population had dropped to about half since the relocation time 20 years ago and the houses were only built as temporary structures or a temporary problem. This lack of planning led to problems in housing as they were built on sand beds and degraded over the years. There is of course no infrastructure and the people are waiting in stalled action for the government to do something.

The center has helped a little by finishing 4 projects in the town including central heating for the school and piping gas to the hospital but this is only the start to the reconstruction of the town. There are other problems like 5% of the population has cancer.

It seems like to big of a number to be neglected but a blind eye is turned on he town.

Emma and I had the opportunity to have dinner with the mayor olga myhailiova and see for ourselves the houses that were constructed on this site. She also made a huge dinner for us with Ukrainian delicacies.

I am so full and I have never eaten so much in my life. We wound the day off with an internet session and a relaxing coffee.

We were interviewed by a few local journalists and one radio station. It was sometimes difficult to answer questions because they had been asked before by other journalists. I had to remember that journalists were actually hearing our answers for the first time.

After the press conference, we went to meet with the mayor and deputee mayor of Borodyanka at their office. Again, we received a warm welcome and gifts. Apparently it is a tradition to offer gifts to guests. But there were so many that we had to ask Tanya if we could send them home because we could not carry all that stuff on our bikes. We were presented the town, the different sport activities happening there. Borodyanka seems to be quite an active city!

After the nice visit, we went to tour the centre. I was amazed by the incredible amount of art. Many art works displayed everywhere. So much life and energy in the centre! I could have spent hours just looking at the many creations. I would have loved to work as an art therapist there and I think it would be the dream of any art therapist. Art is just blooming here but not only because ukraininan are great artists but because people who work here know the healing potential of art and support it. We went to the playroom where a couple cute kids were playing there. And again surprise, surprise. Tanya gave us this beautiful book made especially for us. All drawings from children from the centre who expressed their thoughts and ideas around our bike trip. That was not all. We both received specially crafted eggs that were made according to a traditional and long process using hot wax, Finally this cute little girl who was playing in the room brought us a craft of her own as a welcome gift.

Finally we were also invited to do some art. We were invited to draw our hand on a piece of paper which they cut for us. Chris and I wrote our names and a little message. These hands were then placed on this humongeous tree of hands of all people who had been in the centre. I was very proud to have mine being part of this big family!

After the visit, we went to another nice restaurant, where we had a taste of another type of borsh. Then we went to visit an orphanage in a little village not far from Borodyanka. There were no kids there because they were all on rest camps for the summer but we met with the director of the orphanage. Again, there were many painted pictures on the wall. Tanya told us about them, how they depicted famous fairytales of Ukrainian folklore.

Then we went to another town of relocated people from Chernobyl zone. We met with the mayor which was a woman. This is one of the people that impressed me the most, not because she was a woman nor a mayor but because she had a gentle soul and also a strong heart. There was something about her that very special. You could tell by her eyes, that there was pain and sorrow but also spark and courage.

She took us to her home for dinner. She had prepared this beautiful table of delicious Ukrainian foods

I tasted varenekies for the first time. They look like dumplings. I was told there are many different kinds filled with different stuffings, sweet or salty. They were delicious!

The day was slowly ending. We had to go back to the centre and getting ready to pack up again for our next stop.