Billy's Diary entry No.6

I’ve been picked up today again by Alexey and we head of for a 30 min drive to the Children’s Cancer hospital in Minsk. I feel like I know this place so well now, this is the 5th time I’ve been here. Every time I visit is just as difficult as the last.

Try and imagine standing in front a child trying to make him or her smile, when all you can see is the scar from one ear across the top of her head to the other ear. Yes, in the photo below, that’s exactly what this poor little girl has gone through.

So you stand in front of her, making a balloon, doing silly things to make her smile, and at the same time you’re trying your best to fight back the tears and hurt from showing in your face. When we left this room I had to wait before entering the next, just to try and compose myself again, ready to enter with a smile. This is so hard at times, but the reward is so worth it to see a little happiness show in their faces.

This little boy (below) and his mother were really excited when I walked in, they recognised me from the last time I was here, YES, a year ago. I asked how long he had been in hospital now, the answer was 15 months, and still unsure when he’ll be well enough to go home. I’ve been looking through all my photos from last year to try and find a picture of him, but couldn’t find any. I would have liked to have printed it and given it to him at the end of this month when I return to the hospital again.

We spent another whole day here, every single minute was a valuable one for me. I’m looking forward to coming back, I’ll be here one more time on this tour the day before I fly home.

Below are some more of today’s photos. I’ll be taking hundreds during the tour, so please come back to my diary soon. Tomorrow I leave for a 5 hour drive to Divin region. I have no idea if I’ll get any connections to the internet while in that area, but I’ll certainly try my best to find one and upload more information.

Keep Smiling,

Graeme (Billy Wiz)