David Braudo, Year 12 Student, Immanuel College
The night before we left for Odessa, Ukraine, I was feeling very anxious about going to visit the children at Tikva. I was unsure as to what was going to await me.
We went to the infants’ home first. I was struck by the smiles on the children’s faces when they saw us as we walked through the door. We distributed lots of sweets and toys which they were very grateful for. Watching all their faces glow with joy was so special. This made me realise just how lucky I am to live the life I do, often taking these small luxuries for granted.
We then visited the girls’ home where they performed a show for us. They were dancing, singing and playing the violin. Seeing the girls perform for us made me even more aware of how amazing Tikva is as it provides these girls with so many opportunities that they would not have had if Tikva hadn’t found them.
We played a game of football with some of the older boys from Tikva. We were all enjoying ourselves and it became apparent that for some of them, sport is how they ‘disconnect’ and forget about their difficult backgrounds. I became even more aware of the fact that sport enables people from all over the world and from all walks of life to relate. I had never met these boys and playing football with them for an hour made us feel like we had known each other for much longer. We all instantly connected and this demonstrated to me the important role that sport plays in people’s lives.
On Friday night, we prayed at the local Synagogue in Odessa. We prayed singing the same tunes as we do here in London, it made me recognise that as Jews, no matter where we come from, we all have the same heritage and we are all able to connect through prayer.
During shabbat, we spent our time getting to know all the boys more at the Boys home. This was a great bonding experience and I met some incredible people and made amazing new friends. We spoke Hebrew to all the children and prayed together. A lot of our conversations were related to Judaism (e.g. tefillin, shabbat and learning gemara). I was able to see the power of having a strong Jewish identity. Seeing how friendly everyone was made me extremely grateful that I was able to come on this trip. Any feelings of unease that I had experienced before the trip had completely disappeared.
On the last day of the trip, we were told that we were going to visit one of the homes of the children who are now cared for by Tikva. We were unsure as to what to expect, was it going to be run down was it going to be dirty, smelly? We had no idea. What we experienced was completely beyond anything we were expecting. It was far worse. The house was dilapidated, with what was supposed to be a front door, hanging off the hinges. We stepped inside and, to our surprise, the “house” was barely a house. We were shocked to find that there was no roof and there was rubbish everywhere. There were two rooms, separated by a rag which acted as a curtain. There were no doors within the house at all.
We discovered a very old and tired looking bed in each room with empty vodka and beer bottles strewn around. There was no running water or electricity. The condition of the housing shocked us beyond belief. It was so much worse than we had anticipated. It demonstrated the grave conditions that these children had come from.
When I consider that I had grown up in South Africa and had been exposed to the poverty within the townships, I can safely say that what I saw that day was far worse than anything I could have imagined. It made me realise that to live the life that I do, to come from the most amazing family who shower me with endless love and comforts is such a privilege. It is so easy to take “small” comforts for granted, such as having a roof over our heads, sleeping in a comfortable bed and having heating and electricity.
From the ‘house’ we visited the Holocaust memorial monument in Odessa. This was built on the exact site where Jews from Odessa were taken straight to the concentration camps and ghettos. Before the war, 200,000 Jews lived in Odessa, but after the war only 600 remained. This demonstrated how heavily the Ukrainian Jewish community was affected as a result of the Holocaust. The Jews that survived and that chose to remain in Odessa had a dismal quality of life.
To conclude our trip, we had a party with the children from Tikva. There was a DJ and we all danced together. We said our emotional goodbyes. It was hard to believe that we had only just met these people four days earlier. Despite the language barrier, we formed a really strong bond with all of the children. It taught us that even though we have completely different lifestyles, as Jews we are all able to connect and understand each other.
After we said our goodbyes, we sat in a circle and reflected on what we had learned from this incredible experience. It was the perfect way to end such an amazing and inspirational trip. This experience was so unique and so different to any I had ever had before. Under normal circumstances, when one donates money to charity, one often does not actually know where it’s going and what its being used for, but on this trip, I got to see exactly where all the money and gifts were going. I was so thrilled that we had brought all that we had.
This was an eye-opening experience which put into perspective the reality of living in such abject poverty. I can now say that I fully understand what Tikva does and that this extraordinary charity is one that should not go unnoticed. The opportunities it provides for the children is outstanding, such as an education, providing counselling for the children’s mental wellbeing, sporting activities and competitions, learning musical instruments and so much more. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go on such a special trip.
Six Months On
It’s now been almost six months since we returned from Ukraine and I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. Not long after we came home, the coronavirus became a global pandemic. Schools have been closed and people’s lives have completely changed. I have been staying at home with my family. We’ve spent a lot of quality time together, which has been amazing. I have realised how lucky I am that I have a family that loves me and enjoy spending so much time with. Many of the children at Tikva, don’t come from such loving families, which reminds me of the incredible work Tikva are doing providing each child with a loving and supportive home, family and friends to spend time with.
