Three hours of sleep is good? Going to have to be!

Was up late communicating with folks in Belarus and the Ukraine. Thanks to our friend and Belarusian translator, Maryia, we now have hotel arrangements in Mozyr, in the Gomel region. Most of the Belarusian children we host live in this region and we will be hosting a party for them at a cafe in Mozyr.

We are also being treated to a home cooked meal by the mother of one of our host children. The families in the region are all eager to play tour guide and host and I am a little worried I have already offended some of them as we actually ended up with TWO sets of hotel reservations. The families are all very hospitable and many want us to visit them and have a meal. Linda and I may need to split up a bit so we can visit more families. My host daughter's mother is very eager to show me around and I can't wait to meet her and see Diana again.

We have not seen any of our Belarusian host children for more then a year due to the ban on travel of the children in Belarus. I hope it is lifted soon! The children need their health respites, medical and dental care. We are scheduled for some meeting with some government official in Minsk. I think they will mostly be social calls but I want them to know we are still interested in the children we host from there!

Going to try and pick up some large suitcases today in hopes that Linda and I can cram everything we need to take into them. We have things for the orphans in Ukraine and necessities and gifts for our Belarusian host children.

Crossing my fingers a fed-ex package arrives with our passports today!