Dnipro Trip Day 2

[StevieC]

Thankfully Ira has managed to organise an early check-in at the Dnipropetrovsk Hotel (many Hibs supporters will remember the hotel from their visit last September) for a much needed shower and change of clothing. No time to admire the views though as we head straight back out and start a day and a half of shopping for the items needed for the children. We experiences the “delights” of Ukrainian markets as Ira takes us from stall to stall trying to find the required number and sizes of slippers, underwear, bed sheets and towels needed for the kids. It’s then on to the Metro store for some games and toys as well as baby foods, shampoo and soap. The weather is quite hot which doesn’t help a great deal for a stressful day of shopping but we manage to get most of the items we needed and have time to make a quick trip to the new orphanage we are hoping to take on. We arrive at the Odinkovka orphanage late afternoon and have the opportunity to meet the orphans for the first time. Ira explains to them a bit about who we are and what we are doing then we set about trying to match up 45 pairs of trainers to 45 kids. We manage to get trainers to fit all the orphans bar two which is no mean feat (if you’ll excuse the pun).

Next we distribute the football shirts donated by the Hibernian support and it ends up looking like the end of a World Cup match as the kids keep swapping shirts till they get the one they want, the girls taking a fancy to yellow and white with the boys preferring green and black.

We cant spend too long at the orphanage as we have to get back into the town centre to meet up with some supporters who have invited us out.

We get back to the hotel for a quick shower and change and are met by, former Pan Football editor and now Dnipro FC press officer, Vadim. He takes us up into the town centre where we meet up with some of his Dnipro FC supporting friends. We are introduced and then asked to take a seat whilst they organise a drink and a bite to eat for us. We get chatting, as best we can given that only a handful of them speak any English, and really start to bond. Conversations drift between football chat, European travels and Irvine Welsh. Apparently the works of Irvine are very popular with the group and we inform them that Irvine had actually travelled with the Hibs support to Dnipropetrovsk when we had visited last September. We also tell them of how Irvine has generously donated to the Dnipro Appeal and this information certainly raised their admiration of a man that they already held in high regard. The conversations are hushed whilst Andre, or Andrew as he would have us call him, delivers a speech thanking the Hibernian support for their generosity. We are set to offer a reply but are left completely speechless when hands over a gift to cement the friendship between the two teams. A beautiful hand painted plate around 60cm in diameter with a pattern of flowers famous for the area and in the middle the two crests of the football teams side by side.

Writing around the outside of the plate offered thanks to the Hibernian support, but not in English, no these supporters who were obviously very proud of their own heritage had went to the lengths of finding out the Gaelic for “Thank You!”. Along with the plate were two large mugs with the same hand painted patterns and crests of our respective football teams. We thanked them for their unbelievable generosity and, with a full glass of vodka, we all toasted the forging of a long term bond between the supporters.

We head back to the hotel dead on our feet.