Friday July 28, 2023

 Friday, 28.07

The cost…

What began as a dream in 2006 is now becoming a reality.

Our goal is to obtain the necessary documents needed for the building process this fall 2023. We’ll then move on to the well, septic system and grading the land. We hope to have the foundation in place by spring of 2024.

Thanks to you all (heart), we have had the money in hand for each step we have already completed:

• Documents to make the two pieces of land into one

• Lawyer fees

• Design fees

The cost to complete the building will be $250-350,000 USD… and the only thing we can say to that, is that with God, all things are possible. Logically, it seems like an insane amount of money to raise. But, in 2006, it also seemed like such an unattainable idea that we would someday be living and working in Ukraine, providing occupational therapy to people. 

If you want to be a part of this, please let us know!

 God has used you all for the past 12 years and we are so thankful for all of you!

The picture below is the reason why we are doing this, why we are building a center to accommodate more patients.

Two men, who would have never met each other, if it were not for our clinic. Two men who bonded over the same diagnosis, the same symptoms, the same treatment, the same hope. 

People with disabilities don’t often walk the streets of Ukraine. They are hidden behind doors, made to feel that their life is over and they serve no purpose.

But, there is hope. There is recovery, There is purpose.

Our two guys, Zoltan and Oleksii. They come every morning to the clinic. They work hard. They have become best friends. One is 45 years old and the other 74. 

We want our patients to see each other and understand they are not alone. They are not the only ones with this diagnosis. We want them to see progress in their friend’s recovery and be encouraged that it can happen to them also.

Thursday July 28

 Thursday, 27.07

Center of Hope, Ukraine

What will the rehabilitation center look like?

We have been working with a building designer for the past several months. Our friend, Andrew, approached us almost 2 years ago, with an offer to help design our building. Andrew is not only a designer, but a carpenter and also a doctor. This has proved to be a great combination because he really understands the needs of our patients and has designed the building in such a way to suit their needs.

The building began as a simple one-level, 400 sq/m property. But, late in 2022, we understood that the building should be larger to accommodate the many Ukrainians, soldiers and civilians, who have experienced injuries related to war.

The building will now be 2 levels and roughly 1000 sq/m.

It will include a large sports hall for occupational and physical therapy, an accessible kitchen where patients will re-learn important cooking skills, accessible bathrooms and showers, a space for psychiatry and counseling, separate space for pediatric therapy and space for an on-site doctor. The second floor will also include living quarters for staff.

Check out the layout, floor plans and renders done by our friend Andrew!

Wednesday July 26, 2023

 Wednesday, 26.07

The land!

The land that we purchased with our savings back in 2021 is in an area of Uzhhorod called Horyani. It is located on the eastern edge of the city where there is a higher elevation. You can stand on the land and see the entire city of Uzhhorod down below.

The location is great. By car, you can easily reach the city center in 12 minutes. But, it is far enough, and high enough, from the hustle and bustle of the city to provide fresh air, privacy and ‘quiet’ to our patients.

Future site of: Center of Hope, Ukraine

Center for occupational therapy and physical rehabilitation.

Pictures and videos below include our land during different times of the day and during different seasons.

Tuesday, July 25

 2. Tuesday, 25.07

Our dream from the beginning, in 2006, was to return to Ukraine and build a center for physical rehabilitation in Uzhhorod. 

In 2012, we officially moved to Ukraine.

From 2012-2022, I began providing occupational therapy through home health services (and also had 3 babies).

In 2019, I became a member of the Ukrainian Society for Ergotherapy (occupational therapy)

In 2020, we became permanent residents of Ukraine.

In 2021, we bought land for the future rehabilitation center.

In 2022, I came on staff at Uzhhorod National University, Medical Faculty.

All of these steps have led us to where we are today. And we are thankful to our God who orders our steps: Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps”. 

We are not smart enough (we just don’t have those business savvy skills…) to know how to create a rehabilitation center from start to finish, but God knows!

In the videos below, we will introduce you to Stepan. (This will be on our private FB page: Mike and Annie in Ukraine)

 July 24, 2023

Week of Updates

 Hey friends!

We have been keeping our private Facebook page up to date for the past few years.

Please ask to join: Mike and Annie in Ukraine

We also have a new website about our medical work in Ukraine: 

https://centerofhopeukraine.org/

Fresh updates (also will share on our private FB page, BUT will not be sharing patient photos here)!

1. Monday, 24.07

This week we’ll be sharing about our medical work in Ukraine: occupational therapy, psychiatry and counseling. We’ll also be updating you on our building project and medical plans for the future.

In January 2012, we moved to Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

I began doing occupational therapy by myself through home care:

visiting patients in their homes to provide OT services to them.

My first patient was a man in his early 40s, a severe stroke with some of the main

symptoms being inability to move his right arm and expressive aphasia

(the ability to understand words, but difficulty in speaking). 

Now, in July of 2023, we have a small out-patient clinic that provides

occupational therapy (specializing in neurological diagnoses) and psychiatry.

Our team has grown to include Dr Gabrial Anaman, a psychiatrist and

our medical student volunteers: Nikolas (6th year medical student from Kenya),

Moyin (6th year medical student from Nigeria) and Maya

(a recent medical school graduate from Nigeria).

We now serve 14 patients every week with a variety of diagnoses:

stroke, traumatic brain injury, aphasia, back pain and

soldiers with injuries and PTSD related to the war.

Most of you in this group have financially supported us and our medical work

in Ukraine from day 1, back in 2012.

THANK YOU! <3

Without you, we would not have been able to be here for 12 years!

In the pictures below, we’ll introduce you to some of our team,

show some equipment and share the story of Zoltan, one of our patients.

(check out our FB post for pics!)

Contact Information and how to Donate to our work:

Mike and Annie Hallenback

Mike:

mjhallenbeck@hotmail.com

WhatsApp & Viber: +380991841003

Annie:

ahallenback@gmail.com

WhatsApp & Viber: +380665534094

Web: www.centerofhopeukraine.org

And the resurrection of our blog: http://mikeandannieinukraine.blogspot.com

It lives.

Donate:

Paypal

mjhallenbeck@hotmail.com

Tax deduction:

Donations can also go through our home church in Poughkeepsie, NY for a tax-deduction.

Just be sure to add that it is for: Mike and Annie Hallenback/Ukraine.

River Community Church

260 Mill Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

“SecureGive” is also available through the church for online or text giving.

Simply text 518.255.8887 to set up a new account or to make a donation.

Ukrainian Language School

This summer, we spent two weeks in Lviv studying Ukrainian at the Ukrainian Catholic University.

When we first moved to Ukraine, almost 5 years ago, Mike had wanted to do language study at this university. We kept putting it off that first year- it just seemed too difficult with a little baby.

Fast forward 4 years, with an almost 5 year old, 2 year old and a 4 month old: we realized it was never going to happen unless we just did it. So, we decided to do it!

It worked out really well! We stayed on campus in the newly built dormitory, had classes in the building next to the dorms (literally right next to it) and ate most of our meals in the cafeteria. 

I had my lesson in the mornings and Mike had his lessons in the afternoon. After the kids went to sleep for the night, we both did our homework for the next day.

We had the same teacher. She was a wonderful teacher! This was my first time studying Ukrainian and she gave me a great foundation to build on. 

Mike was at the advanced level- which did not surprise me. He has worked so hard to learn Ukrainian. He studied for almost 3 years in the US with a tutor and has had private lessons weekly since we moved here. He rarely gives himself a break from learning the language in one form or another. 

I studied at the beginner level. I had studied Russian prior to this- 2 years in the US and private lessons off and on since we moved here. I hear Mike speak Ukrainian everyday, so I have a lot of that vocabulary embedded in my brain. 

It was challenging to go from Russian to Ukrainian: the languages are similar, but also very different. Same alphabet, but some of the letters are pronounced differently. 

My goal is to continue studying both languages. Russian- with a private tutor. Ukrainian- with the materials from the university and Mike to correct my work.

We are hoping to go back next summer!

Our view from our first dorm room: a Greek Catholic church under construction.

This amazing park that was next to the campus: Striyskiy Park. Beautiful. We took the kids for walks there almost everyday.

Mike and his study partners.

Our view from our second dorm room (we had to switch rooms halfway through our stay). I love soviet-era looking buildings. We especially loved this partly finished dome-shaped structure.

A fountain in the park. It is from the Ukrainian fairytale, Ivasik Telesik, in which a small boy is rescued from a dragon by a goose who carried him home.

Every evening, we would take the kids out and do something fun with them. They were definitely tired. We had some late nights!

We had a lot of fun exploring the city center.

Our Life in a Series of Pictures: November 2015 to March 2016

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2015 and the making of pumpkin pies! We celebrated with Mike's Advanced English class at our apartment.

Christmas 2015 and the decorating of the tree. Celebrations begin in December and go through the end of January and include: St Nicholas Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Ukrainian Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Christmas Day, Old New Year's and Old Christmas Day and maybe I forgot a couple here and there- but, it is quite fun to have so many celebrations.

Mike resuming preparations for his classes mid-January. We had a drafty apartment...

Solomiya and Fedya and Chicken Pox. That was not fun.

Fedya learning to drive Rudolf's van post-Chicken Pox.

Solomiya in her pre-school class. Contrary to what you may think, based on this picture (yes, Solomiya is in the green dress and looks like she is sleeping), she LOVES school. Sometime in 2015 spring (my memory is a bit fuzzy), we moved Solomiya from the government kindergarten to a private kindergarten. Did I mention she LOVES this school and absolutely LOVES her teacher?
This school has been great for her. The differences include: smaller class size, Montessori style of teaching, shorter day.
The school is actually held at our church and the head teacher is our Pastor's wife, Lilia (pictured above). The lessons are taught in Russian, so now Solomiya is becoming trilingual (English, Ukrainian, Russian) and soon will become my personal translator.

In March 2016, we moved out of our apartment and into this house! We are still renting, but the cool thing is that the rent is the same as our apartment. Yes, thank you. What a blessing from God!
 

This is what the garden area looked like in spring. Now, late summer, it looks a bit like a jungle.

Three weeks after we move, Misha is born! Phew, that was close.

     This house has been such a huge blessing! There is a lot of room for the kids to play, we can all sit at the same table to eat, we can easily go outside without cramming 2 adults, 2 kids a baby and stroller into an elevator.
     We also have extra bedrooms and have been able to host friends from New York, friends from Poland, a teacher from Sweden and a pastor and wife from England.
Please come and visit!