BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

11/07/2007

Belarus girl finds care, best friend in Overland Park

The Associated Press

OVERLAND PARK - Summer after summer, Emily Basel has protected and supported her friend Tanya Khvitsko.

When they go swimming, Emily helps Tanya take off her prostheses for her legs. When people stare at Tanya's malformed hands, Emily brags that her friend paints beautifully and plays a mean game of pingpong.

This summer, it was Tanya's turn to be there for Emily.

Dressed in a turquoise, floor-length gown, Tanya was the first bridesmaid to walk down the aisle as her best friend, Emily, 22, married Ben Whitecotton at Hillcrest Covenant Church.

"I told Ben there was one condition to getting married, and that was that Tanya had to be in the wedding," Basel said. "We probably would have gotten married sooner, but we wanted to wait for Tanya."

Tanya, 16, was 5 when she made her first summertime visit to Kansas City from Belarus, a country that borders Poland.

She came through a program called Project Restoration. Like hundreds of other children who fill the boarding schools in Belarus, Tanya was born with several disabilities caused by radiation from the Chernobyl disaster, which is just south of where she grew up.

A frightened child who knew no English, Tanya stayed part of each summer with the Basel family, and 11-year-old Emily discovered a new best friend. And although Emily didn't know it then, it would be Tanya's influence that would lead Emily to major in special education during college.

Emily, a University of Central Missouri graduate, will begin teaching at Wheatridge Middle School in Gardner this fall.

"We are like sisters, you know," Tanya said, grabbing Basel's engagement ring and trying it on, laughing and crying at the same time.

Tanya's and Emily's paths to sisterhood began in 1997 when Laurann Schlapper, founder and president of Project Restoration, traveled to Belarus and saw the boarding schools filled with children with disabilities.

"I was very, very impacted by what I saw," Schlapper said. "God put this in my heart, and then you reach out and become incredibly touched by these children."

Through networking, the help of churches and a lot of government red tape, Schlapper brought five children to the United States for the summer for medical care. Tanya was one of those children.

When Tanya arrived, she stayed with the Ingram family, of Lenexa, and the Basels, of Overland Park. And although she met several young people, Emily was the one Tanya loved the most.

"We just did all the things little girls did," Basel said. "She'd sleep in my room, and we'd stay up late talking about everything. Of course, Tanya didn't really speak much English, so it was hard. But we managed to figure it out, like the time I tried to explain to her that we usually peel the kiwi, not eat it whole like she thought."

Tanya added, "Remember when your parents were gone and we ran and ran around the house, screaming and singing, being crazy?"

They laughed even harder when they remembered a time at a park when Basel was pushing Tanya on a swing and her prosthetic leg flew off.

"We've had a lot of good times together," Basel said.

Those good times continued summer after summer, thanks to Project Restoration. Trips to the park and Chuck E. Cheese turned into shopping for clothes and talking about makeup and boys as they grew older.

Tanya not only was fitted with new prostheses each time she visited, thanks to the Shriners, but she also received therapy, general medical care, English lessons and braces.

While Tanya was getting things she needed, Emily realized she had become protective not only of her friend but other children with disabilities, as well.

As more and more children began to spend their summers in Kansas City through Projection Restoration (there are 33 here this summer), Emily became focused on their care and progress.

"I was around them all the time, and honestly, you don't even notice their disabilities once you get to know them," Emily said. "And I think it was just being a part of this that led me to wanting to make a difference. I'm really excited to start teaching special education in the fall."

The Basel family first heard about Project Restoration in 1997 through a notice in their church bulletin. Schlapper was looking for families to host children from Belarus.

"One morning at church, the children from Belarus were singing, and there was this sweet little girl who was just smiling at us," said Emily's mother, Connie Basel. "I asked my husband if he noticed her legs and hands and he said, 'No, I just noticed her smile.' And that was how we started to fall in love with Tanya."

By the time Emily was a sophomore in high school, she decided it was time to go to Belarus. She has been three times and has spent part of her visit with Tanya, her parents and two brothers. Tanya grew up in the boarding school, but her family visited her often, and she goes home for holidays and summers.

Now that Emily is married, Tanya worries she won't see her friend as often. But a background check has been done on Ben Whitecotton, so now Tanya can come and stay with them in their apartment, where many pieces of her artwork already hang on the walls.

And although Emily knows where her future is headed, she isn't so certain about Tanya's.

"Over in Belarus, it is very difficult to get into the university," Emily said. "But right now, Tanya is like the queen of her boarding school. Other children depend on her. She wants to work with children, and she'd make a great teacher someday."

Then Tanya proudly says, "And I have won many awards in wheelchair dancing. Next year, the world championships are coming to Belarus."

Emily said they both have a passion for running, although Tanya can't run as far as Emily, who recently completed a half-marathon.

"I know Tanya is happy, and she has what she needs," Emily said. "And she'll always have me."

Source:

http://cjonline.com/stories/071107/kan_183664364.shtml