This is Children's Hospital #15 in St. Petersburg. How does it compare with your local children's hospital? For starters, it is about 130 years old and it shows. This hospital treats children from the shelters and orphanages.

Many of the children who come here have lice and other illness such as hepatitis or tetanus. This is a little girl who had her head shaved to get rid of the lice. It is amazaing to me how happy these little ones can be to see someone they don't even know. Unfortuantely they receive such little compassion that they are starved for attention.

This young lady got a hold of my camera and wanted to take a picture of us together. I never got her name, but she was my shadow for the whole time I spent in the hospital.

t-minus 14 days until I venture again to St. Petersburg Russia fro the second time this year. I figured it was about time I started blogging and keeping everyone up to date on my experiences. This picture is from my first trip. I will try to keep up with my experience this time.