Back in Minsk

Monday 19th May, we visit Bobruskj orphanage for the second time, they were so good at the first show, and we had a spare few hours this morning that I wanted to return to make them all some balloons as we didn’t have time before.

We visited each of the six rooms one at a time with up to 10 children per room. Each time we entered the room all the children were jumping up and down with excitement because the ‘magician’ was back again.

I made every child in each room a balloon before saying goodbye and travelling an hours journey to the next show in a village called Bortniki.

This was a smaller orphanage with mixed ages from 5 to 16 years. About 20 children, very well behaved and a pleasure to entertain.

In the evening, Yuri and Ludmilla, who I have been staying with, have been showing some photos of a recent child they’ve taken into care. The story is horrific. Tamara is about 11 years old (I forgot to ask her age). Her father committed suicide and her mother is an alcoholic. Tamara also has a younger brother and sister who now live with other families.

Her mother received help from many different people including Yuri and Ludimilla who took a huge quantity of food to the house to help the family. Unfortunately, the mother sold all she received to by more alcohol. Eventually the children were taken into care and she was deprived of her rights for ever to look after them.

Tamara, her bother and sister spent the whole of the summer holidays (before being taken into care) eating just apples from neighbouring trees and drinking dirty water. The summer holidays in Belarus are not the same as UK holidays, they last for 3 months. I was shown photos of how the house looked when the children were taken, it really was horrendous. I’ve never seen so much dirt everywhere. Their clothes hadn’t been washed for months, they hadn’t washed themselves for months, the house was just piled high with muck.

Now, Tamara is a beautiful little girl with huge smiles every time you see her. She’s happy, still has contact with her brother and sister and most importantly is in a loving family environment.

Tuesday 20th May, and we’re travelling to Mogilov. I’ll be staying for 4 days with Vladimar, Marina and daughter Alina (picture below). I first met Alina in the Minsk Children’s Cancer Hospital two years ago in April 2006. We’ve kept in touch with the family since. I visited them for one day last year. We’ve been trying to bring Alina to the UK for a months holiday. But because of her illness (leukaemia) she has not been well enough to travel. Now she is, but because of her Leukaemia, Belarusian law states she must be accompanied by a doctor or parent. My wife and I discussed it and immediately decided we would invite her mother as well. So this year on the 27th July, both Marina and Alina will travel to England and live with us for a month.

As I’ve said before, when children visit the UK, because they are breathing fresh air and eating fresh food, their lives are prolonged by up to two years. I’ve recently found out that this information is a little inaccurate. When I had a meeting with a specialist on the problems of Chernobyl in the Gomel region, I was advised that they will extend their lives by up to three years not two. . . even better.

One thing you will always notice when the children visit the UK is the change of colour in their faces. They arrive looking very pale but return home with a good healthy looking colour.

Today is Saturday 24th May, we had a three hour journey back to Minsk for the final stage of my tour. We left Mogilov at 7pm this morning. We Also took Alina and her mother Marina to the bus station in Minsk. They are travelling to Germany for more medical tests on Alina. She is now cured from her Leukaemia but still has to have regular check ups. The trip to Germany takes 34 hours by bus through Belarus, Poland and then to Germany. I’m told the specialist’s and equipment used in Germany is much more advanced than in Belarus. Their trip is also sponsored by a charity, although I’m not sure which.

When I found out they had to travel 34 hours I decided to buy Alina an MP3 player. I had to pretend it was for my own use for my flight home as Marina would never have allowed me to buy it. It wasn’t expensive, about £30, but to a family in Belarus, it’s a luxury they can’t really afford. When we got back to the car I explained I already had one and this was a special gift for a very special girl, to keep her a little occupied during her journey. If you could have seen Alina’s face when I gave it to her you would have been as choked as me, worth every single penny. Marina was extremely grateful and said Alina has been asking for years for an MP3 player.

Now for the bad news . . . . . we got home, had our tea and then sat down with my laptop for Alina to decide what music she wanted on it. She was getting more and more excited as we were about to connect it to the PC to synchronise it, only to find out the shop had supplied the wrong cable connection. The shop is now closed. In Belarus, it’s different to the UK. In the UK when you buy something like this it’s in a sealed box. It’s different here, you buy the one on display, they don’t have and can’t afford to have lots in stock. So first they show it works, then get the box, cables and instructions, unfortunately none of us noticed the different connection. Vladimar, Alinas father is going to take it back today to change the cable, it’s just means Alina doesn’t have it for her bus ride to Germany. She was extremely disappointed but didn’t complain, she now has it to look forward to when she gets home.


Today, after returning to Minsk, we visited the Children’s Cancer Hospital again. I’ve said it before, every time I come here it never gets any easier.


The photo below shows a little boy has had his head cut open from ear to ear with surgery to a tumour, the scar is quite visible and is healing well, but if you look carefully you’ll see he’s had surgery yet again with a fresh scar over is head. I didn’t get many smiles from him, just the occasional grin, but after what he’s going through, I don’t think I could have expected any more.

The picture below is from a ‘box’, the tiniest room you could ever imagine. Inside, there’s a child, there were six of these rooms. Each one has a window with an intercom system. Children with serious conditions will spend up to a month in here with no contact outside apart from via the intercom. Their mother has a stool to sit on. Pictures from friends are stuck to the window. There’s no room to stand up, they have to stay in bed the whole time. It’s hard to imagine how they must feel. A translator from one of my previous visits to Belarus was telling me how bad it is. She spent three weeks in one of these rooms and said she hated every minute.

Today, in the hospital I came across some extremely distressing situations. I’m taken around every ward by Elina, a specialist who I met the very first time in Belarus. She was explaining through my translator the conditions of each child. Many who could not walk or stand as they had serious spinal problems. This girl below has the same condition.

One girl was back in hospital for the fourth time with Leukaemia, each time it had been cured but kept returning. She had spent a total of nearly three years of her life in hospital, she’s only about 16 years old.

I think the story that hit me most since I’ve been here was a little boy whose mother kept wiping his mouth as he kept dribbling blood. He didn’t smile, had no facial expressions at all, just lay there motionless. Outside the room I asked Elina what his condition was. She explained he’s from Ukraine, both his mother and father have AIDS, this little boy, about four years old also has AIDS, if that wasn’t bad enough, he now has Leukaemia. My heart sank, I didn’t know what to say, with effort I can normally control my emotions during my time in the hospital here, but this time my eyes filled up with tears. I had to sit down for five mins before we carried on.

Since I’ve been in Belarus I’ve performed 34 shows, 18 orphanages, 8 hospitals, 6 schools, 2 concerts. This is exactly why I came here, to make as many children smile as possible. All it takes is a little time, to create that magical smile on a child’s face, giving them an opportunity to forget about their troubles for just a short time, priceless!

What I didn’t expect was for all the families I’ve been staying with to arrange many excursions to various places during my visit here. I’m so grateful, but extremely exhausted. I expected to be working every day and then to return to my accommodation to rest ready for the next day. But that hasn’t happened, I’ve been on the go constantly for the last three and a half weeks without a chance to actually rest. While I’ve had an absolutely amazing time, I’m now looking forward to a few days in my Minsk hotel to actually rest a little. I have been made so welcome here, if you’ve never been to Belarus, and have an opportunity to come here any time, I promise you would be made so welcome, Belarusian people certainly know how to welcome their guests.

Well I’m now going to my room for a rest and a good nights sleep ready for another day tomorrow. Once again, keep smiling, look at the smiles on the children below, if that doesn’t put a smile on your face I’ll eat my hat.

Best wishes,

Graeme (Billy Wiz)

PS: More photo’s to come in a day or two.