Meet Doug, an AiYD Adventurer
August 29, 2015
Meet Doug, an AiYD adventurer! Doug went on our last trip to Eastern Europe. Here's what he had to say about it:
"I loved being in Eastern Europe. I was born and raised there, but this is my second time back since I came to America. Visiting the orphanages was very personal for me, since I grew up in a Eastern European orphanage. I didn't know it at the time, but I was being raised in a negative environment. The older kids would bully the younger and when the next generation grows up, they do the same thing. They don't know any better. There's no one to love the kids. They don't know what love is and they only react to what they know, which is hate and destructive ways. This is why AiYD is such an important role. Someone who steps into their lives and shows compassion, it's creates a very likely scenario for change to occur in their future and in their lives.
"One of the highlights, too, was going to a little village outside of Moscow that houses a community called Orion. Their mission is to rescue kids from orphanages, then adopt and foster them. There are six or seven families, with about 50 people total, who are all taking care of these kids. They are impacting these children' lives. I saw just how positive the kids were. There was never any bullying either.
"With a few other people from our group, I'm working towards helping that Orion community build a house. They are doing incredible things and I want to be a part of it."