Velke Kapušany Garden Project

LDS Charities is working a humanitarian project the past several months. For some reason, this project is slow moving and will not be completed by the time we leave Slovakia. 

Spojená škola, a combined 

school in Velké Kapušany, enrolls 200 children in all grade levels who have physical and mental disabilities. The school shares the building with an orphanage on the bottom levels and the upper four floors is where the school and classrooms are located. 

Students come from all around Eastern Slovakia and are prominently Roma. The school teaches basic education as well as work training and limited skilled trades to help students become self-reliant and assimilate into society. 

The NGO is requesting LDS Charities help fund an “educational garden” in the back lot. Staff members plan to teach students horticulture cultivation and management including soil composting, landscape design, planting, gardening, and harvesting vegetables and herbs. Students would be involved in every possible opportunity for hands-on learning and skills.

In favorable weather, classes would be taught on wooden benches around fruit trees and small fish pond. 

The staff have wood working tools to teach basic skills in constructing the benches. A large wood lattice covering will be built as well as for shade and rainy weather for outside classes.

Mildly disabled children can learn to become self-reliant and do helpful service or wood work. 

This project is already in progress and more work will be completed through the coming school year. Our replacement couple will follow up and oversee that the objectives are met on this project.

A Slovak Souvenir

A sewing machine can be a tool for creative handmade gifts. 

Serving a mission allows opportunities to use whatever talents and skills you have, and to give to others. 

Cathie was able to locate a sewing machine and she was determined to create a beautiful Slovak apron. After seeing all the patterns, fabrics, and ribbon she began creating aprons with the idea of making her daughters a Slovak souvenir. I watched as the fabric and colorful ribbon met together under a sewing needle and became a work of art. 

Cathie then wanted to create aprons for a few of the wonderful young women who were serving a mission in eastern Slovakia. After a couple aprons were sewn together, I was amazed how beautiful they were and how unique each one was. Before long, more aprons were being designed and sewn together in our kitchen for all the female missionaries in Slovakia.

Cathie even determined to send aprons to a couple of young women who served with us but had returned to the USA.

Cathie also made aprons as gifts for some of the wonderful Slovak people we had become friends with. 

A few of the young men serving here in Slovakia noticed these wonderful souvenirs and wished they had something made from Slovak fabric. Cathie came up with the idea to add colorful Slovak ribbon onto a tie they could wear with their white shirts.

During a Zone Conference Cathie brought twenty Slovak ribbon ties and let each young man pick one out. They all immediately put the ties on and expressed just how grateful they were for this creative Slovak gift.

Cathie bought fabric or ribbon from a small fabric shop. The lady owner and her husband only speak Slovak, but through “charades” Cathie was able to get what she needed.

Over time this relationship grew warmer and friendly and now they look forward to Cathie’s visits. They have expressed interest in why she is in Slovakia and loves her passion for sewing. A sewing machine sure has created gifts of love and friends all over Slovakia.

What Impact Will You Make?

Jane Woodall once said, "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

We drove two hours towards the Ukraine border to visit the Anna-Maria organization. We were warmly greeted by the mayor, Maria Andričiková, and several clients. 

Dr. Andre, who started this NGO a couple years ago noticed his elderly patients suffered from depression, isolation, and inactivity some were dying early. He rented building space and created locations in three villages for the elderly citizens to socialize and create handicrafts together. He received help from NGO Anna-Marie to operate the center and provide activities for the communities.

The mayor shared his gratitude to LDS Charities for the hundreds of art supplies provided for upcoming months. Maria said to the group the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are kind-hearted wonderful people. She than asked us to provide a magnifying headlamp to a man who is nearly blind and needs it to see what he is doing like putting jigsaw puzzles together.

A few of the talented ladies hand-crocheted beautiful lace doilies and were presented as gifts. 

These elderly folks then sang with their hoarse and crackly voices but it was so appreciated. Upon request, one performed a solo song and dance.

Maria asked the group to think of Jesus and how they had been blessed. She then asked Greg to pray while Antonia translated it. Although, we were a bit surprised, we were grateful to offer a prayer of thanks for all our many blessings and this opportunity to work together. We were so grateful to create a partnership with these wonderful people. 

Maria told us that some of these seniors didn't want to participate in crafts because they were not little kids. But over time, they have come to appreciate the benefits of working with their hands and to create beautiful art. During a ceramic workshop, one complained of shoulder pain and she wasn't able to roll clay dough.

Maria told her if she could roll pastry dough she certainly could roll clay. She considered this and soon found great enjoyment working with clay and forming simple shapes. She later reported that she had forgotten all about the pain in her shoulders. 

Discover Čičmany

čicmany a small village surrounded by rolling hills in northern Slovakia, known as the first folk architecture reserve in the world.

This fairy tale folk village

is famous for hand-painted white ornaments on dark wooden houses. No one really knows the story behind why this all started, but half the village competes with keeping their house freshly painted. 

The name is derived from a Slovak word čičman, a lumberjack who makes noise during the work.

One of the few places to stay and eat.

Flowers are plentiful in most yards.

Women originally painted the lacy ornamental designs.

Customs of early settlers were quite cramped with up to five families living in the two-story timber house.

A great fire destroyed the village in 1921, and it was restored to original appearance with donations by the state.

Apple trees heavy with fruit.

The wood piles are neatly stacked with square corners.

The women weave embroidery and clothes and the men farm the land and herd sheep and cows.

Approximately 136 residents live here including this male who rides his bike down the street.

Candid photo of these two residents walking together in preserved traditional costumes. Ok, they are semi-posed but he wouldn't stop for long.

A beautiful display of cosmos growing against the dark picket fence.

Mushroom picking is a national passion. These are drying in the backyard under natural sunlight. 

These motifs are embroidered into the folk costumes and carried over into souvenirs throughout the whole country.

It's What We Give

This past week we participated in a service project called the “Wallace Toronto Project”. It is named after a beloved mission president who served back in the 1930-1950’s. 

On September 8, 2018, over 120 volunteers came together from many countries to give service. The selected location this year was Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia.

The large group of volunteers arrived in Bratislava and were divided into three groups. They offered services at an elder care facility, a children’s orphanage, and an elementary school for special needs children.

There were about forty who volunteered hours at the elder care facility including us. The director kept the group busy raking leaves, gardening, pulling weeds, shoveling dirt, sweeping sidewalks, mowing lawns, washing windows, painting walls, and moving heavy cabinets. The staff at these organizations were so thankful for all the help by volunteers.

The missionaries sang during lunch for the residents at the center. 

Each year new organizations are sought out to be recipients for a day of service. Everyone had a great time working together and seeing old friends. It was a joy to watch everyone cooperate and pitch in where needed.

Volunteers included members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, staff members, missionaries, and past missionaries who traveled from the United States to participate in a day of service.

The event ended with a gathering to visit, eat, and discuss the current and past projects.

Amazing what can occur when many hands pull together to serve others. 

President George Albert Smith once said, "It is not what we receive that enriches our lives, it is what we give."  

Old Tired Linoleum Floors

Our humanitarian project was replacing worn 

out floors with new improved floors in Eastern Slovakia.  

The kindergarten school asked LDS Charities to help replace old worn out flooring in three classrooms where preschoolers learn, play, and nap.

The original linoleum floors are over fifty years old with visible patches, cracks, stains, tears, and missing pieces. Scotch tape is used to hold seams together.  The worst damage is covered with large area carpets.

These floors have created a safety hazard as well as being unclean, unhealthy, and unsightly. The school has eight classrooms but they chose the three rooms with the worst flooring for replacement.

The director hoped to create a better learning environment for the children, a hygiene surface for small hands and toys, as well as improved safety for teachers and children who walk on the floors every day.

LDS Charities is co-funding along with the village mayor who agreed the floors needs to be replaced. The director along with a few parents and staff agreed to provide service hours to replace the floors.

This school is near the border of Ukraine and is located in a poor farming area where many families live on so little.

During a visit we observed volunteers working on the new floors during the summer break while kids were out of school. We asked one volunteer why he was helping and he stated his daughter attends the school and he wants it better for her than he had it with the same worn out floors.

The director was so grateful and provided a nice meal for us and the volunteers. The furniture will be moved back into position before the start of the new school year.

This school principal was thankful to LDS charities for their contribution and the volunteer service of others.