FREE HUGS IN HILLCREST, CA ~ January 20, 2007    
By Suzanne P. Reese (the one in the red head wrap)
Infant Massage USA, Trainer

At first, it was just two of us - in front of the Whole Foods in Hillcrest, CA - just down the street from where I hold a training every year at The Center in San Diego, CA. My friend Therese Ellsworth and I arrived at Noon. I made the signs on the way over there. Just some cardboard my mother-in-law gave me for you-never-know-what and black flipchart pens did the trick. It’s true, you never know when you’ll need something, and today, this was the perfect use for the cardboard I’d held on to! Admittedly, we were a little nervous, so we stalled a bit. We went into the Whole Foods first – visited the restroom, puttered around a bit, Therese bought a couple of things......then, there was no avoiding the reason why we were there – we had a mission!...we grabbed our signs (we parked right in front of the store - lucky spot!)...and stood there on University Avenue. It took a mere minute before we got our first hug, Therese was the first free hug-giver - and of what became the three of us, she was the most open and encouraging to approach people - even when they just looked at us and didn't know what to say when we said "Free Hugs! We're Giving Away Free Hugs Today! Would You Like A Free Hug?” Therese approached them with open arms.

Friday October 20, 2006: The little girl I am photographed with in People Magazine died at the Vesnova Children's Asylum in Vesnova Village, Belarus.

Her name is Nastya Gerasimuk. She was so brave, and certainly an angel on this Earth. 

August 2006: Vesnova Children's Asylum, Belarus

There isn't a day that passes that I don't think of the children of Vesnova, Belarus. How was their day today? Who is feeling good today?...Who rally needs a hug - and are they getting one? It's utterly painful sometimes....and that's why when I was asked to return in August, I did - one more time.

My friend and colleague, Michael Curtis joined me. We met Jen O'Dea there - it was like a little reunion from our first mission in October 2005.

Being that this was my third mission in less than 10 months, I felt very familiar with the place. I know where everything is, I sort felt a sense of "home" about it. I remember when I was there in Feb & Mar 2006, I was living in the asylum for a whole 2 weeks - that's a long time. I recall waking up one morning to the sounds of the kids marching down the corridor on their way to breakfast. I was having hard time remembering the sounds of waking up in my house in California. I thought, "So, this is what it's like to live here...this is what Vesnova sounds like." Vesnova is like that - it's saturating. The place is haunting - so full of the history young people with lives most cannot imagine. Now, as I wake up in my home in California, I can recall the a.m. sounds of the halls of Vesnova, and it's like having ghosts in the room. 

August was actually a really good mission. We accomplished so much. With the support of friends and family, I was sent to Vesnova with a lot of goods for the kids: clothing, shoes, sensory toys and tools and  medical supplies unavailable in Belarus. Some very generous donations helped with shopping sprees for the kids: school supplies were a big purchase. I've never walked into a store and said "I'll take all of these" - but this time, I did! Wow, what a feeling - and everything I was buying were for children that the townspeople see as unworthy of such things - strange, but true.

 Everything at Vesnova is rationed - from laundry detergent to  shoes to clothing and bedsheets. It's crazy: Each child is allotted one pair of shoes every two years (!!). So, it was a thrill to be able to distribute something that I knew they really needed. Oh, and to see some of them come out of dirty clothing - the same clothing they lived and slept in for a week! One little girl, Ola, asked if her friend could have a new shirt - not for her, for her friend. Of course, they both were given their choice of a new outfit. Ola is a doll and a sort of big sister to the other girls in Unit 2 - just across the hall from High Dependency Unit 5.

Suzanne was featured in the April 24, 2006 issue of People Magazine in an article titled Chernoby Hope.  Read more about her experiences in Belarus as well as the story behind the photo in the article, and view her own personal photos taken in and around the children's asylum in Vesnova.