We took off from Gothenborg us two adults, two teens and two kids. First stop was Copenhagen where a friend, who owned a car spring factory, helped fix the caravan. If you remember, the springs were bent from a previous load with gospel tracts to Eastern Europe. One of the workers came up with the ingenious idea of completely cutting off the axle and turning it clockwise 15 degrees to raise the caravan back up - a brilliant solution!
We took the ferry south to Germany, down through the recently re-united Berlin, with a photo shoot at the famous Brandenburger Tor, and on down through the former East German Autobahn in the direction of the Czech Republic.
The "Autobahn" was a challenge. During the Soviet occupation of East Germany the infrastructure had not been kept up, so the surface of the highways were close to WW2 conditions. The concrete slabs had shifted under the heavy use, so that at certain speeds the van and caravan began to weave up and down, the result being that combined with the heavy load it worked as a crowbar to pull the front wall of the caravan loose - oh brother! Thankfully I was able to repair the caravan later on with some bolts and metal braces :-)
Arriving in Bratislava we found a camp ground by the Danube river. Sadly, while out for a walk, someone broke into the caravan and stole what little money Christina had brought as a reserve. Our first lesson in security.
Here are some pictures from Bratislava: a picture of one of the city's most prominent features - "The Hrad!" - a castle from the Austrian-Hungarian era, and my three kids on the wall in front of the castle overlooking the Danube river.
We were welcomed with open arms by Monica, the girl we had met at the NGO Summit in Copenhagen, along with her boyfriend Joseph, who was studying to be a doctor. We found out that their NGO was actually sponsored by the Slovakian TV.
When we asked how we could help, they told us about an orphanage in the far east of the country, in a place called Veľké Kapušany, close to Košice near to Uzhhorod in Ukraine.
The orphanage was run by a lady who in addition to the Roma orphans, had also taken in children from another orphanage that had been closed. So we accepted the invitation to go and see what could be done there.
Driving clear across Slovakia from west to east we were joined by other volunteers from Košice to visit the orphanage along with Monica and her doctor boyfriend. That was an experience I shall never forget!
"Mother," who was so named by the orphans, was a woman with a big heart. As soon as we arrived the kids were swarming all over us, hungry sponges for love and attention. We were able to survey the situation and make note of the needs. It was such a fun experience. The boys and girls put on a show for us, and we for them. The kids were enthusiastic in their performance, and their talent for drama and entertainment was indisputable.
One of the highlights was a football match featuring half of the adults on one team and half on the other, and the boys and girls evenly distributed between the two teams. I have never laughed so long and hard...
It was impossible for me to figure out which of the kids were on the other team - no colour coding! As soon as the other side had scored a few goals the kids started switching sides to join the winning team! Pretty soon you had no clue if you were passing the ball to friend or foe... total chaos!
Of course the more the other team grew the more goals they scored, so my side lost by a wide margin! - It was a riot!
That was the beginning of a fruitful cooperation. We passed on details of this orphanage to some of our colleagues in Scandinavia and they were able to bring needed items to the children. They made several trips with supplies, food and clothes and eventually got quite close to Mother. Here is a thank-you letter Mother wrote to the team in appreciation of their assistance.
In the next chapter I'll tell you how we were led to drive on into the "Wild East" of Ukraine - where the real challenges started!
Chapter 4 ~ Crossing the Carpathian Mountains ( TOC )