There’s an old joke which goes something like this: What’s the difference between the English and the Ukrainians? The answer: “English people leave without saying goodbye, whereas Ukrainians say goodbye without leaving!”

This week at the camp we were all Ukrainians. We knew we had to say goodbye, but the children were so amazing that it was really difficult. The “goodbyes” lasted at least half an hour. In the end, we practically had to physically remove the children from the DHM volunteers! Clinging tightly to the team, the children didn’t want us to leave and it was so sad to say that we needed to say goodbye. We assured them that we’d be thinking and praying about them when we went back to the UK and that we were already looking forward to seeing them again next year!

Here are some photos from the time when we had to say our goodbyes.