Down days

We decided that it was time that we take it easy for a couple days .  It has been a busy time since we got here, and we were starting to feel it.   We have all had a turn with some stomach  issues, and last week I developed some sort of a traveling rash to accompany my cold.  The rash finally subsided on Thursday, and was replaced by motion sickness.. as long as I stay out of a car I am ok, but with in 5 minutes in a car, I turn green... I never was a good traveler, but this is a bit of a difficulty since we do so much traveling around the valley, and everyone wants to feed us when we arrive.  Kyrgyz culture does not allow for politely opting out of food, it is such an important part of "building community"  ( that's a reference for my AVP friends ) take tonight for example .. we drove about 10 minutes.. just enough to have me spinning.. Then we came into this little house.. the smells were very strong and filled the room with no opening windows.  They were so excited to have us there, the table was set , slimy salad with deep fried bread, and Monty..( a steamed pasta filled with equal parts of meat, fat and onions) then followed by Bishbal Mak... not just plain but a special plate made with huge pieces of fat, and covered with oil.. and to chance it down a nice cup or hot rendered fat... Then they brought the samovar in from outside to make the tea.. For those that don't know , a Samovar has a small fire box in the middle of a water jacket... that means that it has smoke!, smoke that fills the room with all the other wonderful sights and smells... in the little room with no opening windows ..oh ya.. and no chairs... oh well it was better to be close to the floor so we could still breath...  anyway's... I should not complain.. we were blessed to be there.  This is the home of a family we have been helping.. The mother had a brain tumor and was almost blind and has limited mobility, then her husband and caregiver died.  She is left with one 16 year old daughter. .. The foundation on the house had given in and the walls started to collapse around them... That is the way we found them last fall.. working through a couple of our friends here we had the foundation fixed and the walls rebuilt. The roof fixed and the house painted. We provided the coal for them for the winter, and we paid the tuition so that the young girl could start medical school.   This was all things that we finished  while in Canada, so we were only following up on the progress with pictures.. As it turns out this is the sister of one of the workers at the Baby Hospital that we have been renovating... when they put two and two together that we were involved with both, they simply had to have us over to express how thankful they were for the help... This is not one of the projects that I can direct to a particular sponsor, but it came out of MAD money... Making A Difference ... as I sat there tonight .. I could easily be overwhelmed with how for this family ... we did just that ... we made a difference.. I can not imagine what the future for this young girl and her mother would have been had we not had the resources to intervene... I feel so blessed that so many of you have trusted us with the task of not just specified projects, but the task of seeking out those who have fallen through the cracks, and restoring Hope and Dignity..