Upcoming Projects
- Working day at Mira street refuge- details to come early in 2012
Passed Projects
- Back to school –Mira street refuge – Held on Saturday the 3rd of September we will be having a back to school day. Buying and seeking donation of school supplies for Mira Street Refuge. Parker Drilling will be partnering with us in this project.
- House of Grace and Hope Gala- held on the 24th September 2011. The night was our official opening and fundraiser to help with funds for the future building and running of the house.
The Harrisons have been a catalyst for many projects in Sakhalin involving the wider community.
Mira Street Orphanage – Working Bee
Mira Street orphanage is a place where children are placed when they first enter the care system. As places become available at other orphanages, the children are then assigned a more permanent orphanage residence on the Sakhalin island.
The Harrisons worked with the orphanage director and created an opportunity for others to come in and do some much needed maintenance to the grounds. Many came to help on the day including ex-patriot oil company employees, local church members, House of Grace and Hope family members and some of the orphans themselves.
After being cancelled previously due to bad weather, the day turned out a success with both the weather and the great time everyone had working together. The playground equipment, gardens, lawns, exterior painting and general clean-up radically changed the orphanage grounds in this first “backyard blitz”.
Mira Street Orphanage – Multicultural day
A multi-national team consisting of one Venezuelan, one American, one New Zealander, two Russians and nine Australians, armed with national flags, a pinata and group games, visited a local orphanage for an afternoon of fun activities. Each person introduced themselves and shared a little about their country and their life back home.
Several group games were played which then led to the much awaited grand finale – the gigantic pinata. Afterwards all enjoyed an afternoon tea of soft drinks and cakes. The cakes were made by the Venezuelan ladies from the expatriate village Olympia. The home-made food was a real treat for the orphanage children. All involved on the day were grateful for the work of the ladies in providing celebration food which these children would rarely experience.
Wild-at-heart Men’s Day
In Winter on the Russian public holiday – Protector of the Motherland Day – we especially appreciate the men associated with the House.
The women who live in the House all contribute in different ways to honor the men around them on this special day. This year, ahead of time the ladies set up a challenging orienteering course for the men, ending with a restaurant style dinner at home.
The orienteering day began at 11am with a group photograph at the House with a presentation of the clues to the men for the challenge they were about to embark on. They were led through bushland to a dodgem car challenge and then to a Sheshlick (BBQ) lunch in the park. Stage two then took the men to the Sakhalin Center building (in the city) to meet Ryan (an expatriate Australian) who held the final clue which took the group to paint ball war games played in 1 metre (3 ft) of snow.
The guys loved the challenge and returned with trophies of bruises, pain and fatigue. The three course dinner capped off a memorable day.
International Women’s day 2011
This year the men sent the ladies of the house for some R and R! The ladies were taken to a local Banya or bath house for a leisurely dinner time in the sauna and some luxurious pampering including facials, pedicures, body scrubs, hair treatments. All with products that had been donated over the previous few months from the expat communities.
