Thursday, October 31, 2013

Last day for Dave .. and still working

Down to the final days this trip .. yet still so much more to do .    For Dave, this is his last day , and he is working to the end.   He leaves tonight , but today we had a few thing to take care of .    We brought medicine to the baby orphanage, Then went to the bazaar to get materials, then over to Aigoola's house to fix the fence.  We had just brought in the coal, and the fence blew down that night .. the old fence posts had rotted out... We can't leave it open or it would be an invitation to have the coal stolen.    It did not take long with everyone working .  


We had a little time yesterday so we were able to take Dave out to see the Buranna tower .  With the fresh snow that we have had, and the cooler days , the air is very clear, and it was a great day to take pictures .  

We are still looking for some more challengers for the pie challenge.  We have 14 now, and just need 26 more people to allow there name to stand.. really it's not hard..Allow your name to stand, then give your friends the link tot the blog starting on Nov 10 .. and they can donate on line .. when $500 is raised, ( enough for Christmas for 50 less fortunate )  you let some one through A PIE IN YOUR FACE  and send us the video to post here ..

A few years ago, Larisa brought Christmas to the families at the dump... she said it was " THE BEST CHRISTMAS SHE HAS EVER HAD "    take a moment and watch this video .. and while you do , think   " what was your best Christmas ever "  GO AHEAD....  TAKE THE CHALLENGE


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

A little catch up

So today is a little catch up from the last couple days ... 
this is Arsen .. our gods sons boy ... we had supper with them last night . 

we gave out 69 bags of potatoes and 54 bags of carrots to students and families in need a couple days ago.. part of preparations for the long winter


these twin boys both have CP, and along with bringing food and vitamins , we paid $500 for them to go back for desperately needed medical treatment .. we do not have a sponsor for this yet, but We can not stand to see kids suffering when they don't need to. This family also needs a bit of help with a new home - they found one to rent, but I see the potential to buy them the house they are now renting - enough people in the last couple months went to visit them and saw their needs - maybe 5,000.00 between the 30 people that came is something we can dream for. (Julie added this last bit) 

This old babushka has just about NOTHING , living in this one room with the walls crumbling around her , she says "Please help my grand children not me.. I have so much and they have so little .. they need the help more then I do "
loading up more potatoes


Fatima and her kids were happy to see us

stopping along the way to deal with a situation .. for the second time in a year , this young girl was Bride napped .. now we need to sort through the web of lies and cover up to figure out the truth and determine how best to help... but the basic fact is that we have a 16 year old in a trauma state who needs some one to advocate for her

maybe these two can help
Our Dr friend brought us to his private ponds to let the kids from Dayspring and Jeremiah house go fishing










it did not end until they had all caught a fish ..

Jason felt that anyone could catch a fish by the mouth , but the real trick was to lasso one 

Umerbek helped cook the fish
and everyone helped eat them


Victor brought his home for his Babushka





when we were all done ,  we presented Dr Lagarov with a new fishing rod brought by the team from iam1ru   .. he was thrilled .


after dropping the guys at the airport for the long trip home , we spent the day house hunting to find a place for the carving shop to move to for the winter where we will have more room to take people as a winter shelter and half way house .

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Time for the pie in the face ... will you take the challange ?

Its that time of the year again for the "Pie in the face Challenge ..   IS THIS YOUR YEAR TO GET A PIE IN THE FACE FOR THE KIDS OF KYRGYZSTAN ?
So let me remind you how it works .. starting on Nov 10 and finishing on Black Friday Nov 29 you can receive donations toward Christmas celebrations in Kyrgyzstan .. When your family and friends raise a total of $500 , enough for 50 kids , you let someone through a pie in your face and we post it here on line.   
We will have a donate button on the blog for you to receive donations, and we will track the totals on line and keep an up do date list of totals .  

We need a minimum of 40 of you out there willing to take the challenge to provide a Christmas to 2000 kids and those living in institutions .

as an added bonus this year , we still have room for a couple of you that might like to join a team coming to Kyrgyzstan this Christmas to help with the parties.  this will be a great way to help us get Vitamins over , so please help us collect them again ... 

If you are willing to let your name stand , please email, face book , or leave me a comment, and I will put you on the list .... 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Lots of work today ..

Today was a busy day for as.. we headed out to Red River to help get a family ready for winter , on the way we stopped at Ivonofka to order sand .  While there , we decided to pay a visit to the orphanage/ hospital  .  The director was thrilled to see us and asked if we could come up and say hi to the kids .. not many men stop buy .. so we made the rounds .. our young friend saw us and immediately started talking about when we took him to a restaurant a couple Christmases ago.  then he mad a phone just like Jengishes out of Lego .. Thanks Ohio team for the Lego donation .. 


Mike had been given a pocket full of suckers from Julie before he left home.  funny .. we did not know when we left the house we were coming here , but we had just the right amount for the kids to each get one . 

When we got to Auxana's house she was so happy to see us.  She is a lady that Sergey has been helping for years , and we have done some work for with teams in the past .  She is building a new home, and it was not looking like it would be done in time for Winter   ..the floors were still just dirt with tar paper on them .  She had no coal and the power line was to thin and she could not run a Hot plate on it .



Her son loved the little doll that was brought by the team from Brantford

And the vitamins from Dave and the Nprwood team


notice the two horses faces on the side of the wardrobe .. they were a craft left here by the team from Halifax ... thanks Halifax

Dave decided that we should also bring in the coal for the winter and get the electricity fixed ..

after a day of mixing cement and shoveling coal , mike is showing off his blisters

floor is done

a great day , lots done, and this little family knows that they will be warm this winter, but more then that .. someone cares .

Monday, October 21, 2013

Day timers delivered

Tonight we had a night out with about forty kids from the university .  We are encouraging them to be there for each other. ...because like SAM says We>I  

Dave has arrived

Sunday, October 20, 2013

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.. a weekend with some awesome kids

The last couple of days has been a very special time .  There is an orphange that we have been helping out for a couple years now, but we seldom go to or spend time with the kids .. not because we don't want to but because they are just so far away .   We do Christmas parties there , an have helped to get the kid to camp and back to school clothes, but as you know for me, I want to create good memories and experiences for the kids .. I want them to have hope for their future ... this weekend that was possible for them . 

1/2 the orphange , the older kids , made the 6 hour journey to come to us .. we brought them by bus here to Tokmok.  They arrived at noon at our apartement, and had lunch in Jonnybeks cafe ... a sub sandwich, a banana , a chocolate bar and a juice box, then we headed for Bishkek and the water park . 



They had an incredible time .. nothing like they had every experienced before .. even in the parking lot when a plane flew over head , they were freeking out.. they had never seen a jet plane before , and saw the slip stream, and were sure that it was a rocket .

After about three hours at the water park an a few pizza's later , we headed for Fieza resteraunt .. they had a great meal.. choosing what ever they wanted off the menu ... possibly another first for some .  then it was back to the apartments in Tokmok, and a movie   "Rio "  in russian .. very popular for them .. thanks Sergey and Give First for the power point projecter .. it was a great way to finish the day .

This morning they all came back for breakfast .. boy can they eat hahahhaa.. but it sure made us happy to see them enjoying everything so much .

After breakfast , Emma and the supervisor went into the other room and picked out personalized gifts for the 15 kids that did not get to come .. these kids will bring gifts back with them for the others .  thank you Cathy and Crayola for the awesome gifts .


we then went out together .. and then at 12:30 we headed for the Burana tower where Vlady and Dr Tatyana had an incredible picnic for all 35 of us .. ploff andd Shashleek, candies drinks and fruit .. even his special 1000 layer cake for Julie and Jason with no Chocolate ... sooo good.



They had a great time at the tower an the musium as well  in fact I was suprised how they settled right down and actualy took so much in at the museum .. what a rich place of history ...



Then at 2:30 we gathered them for a photo and said good bye before sending them all back on the long journey home .. but certainly with their heads spinning .. and full of HOPE FOR THE FUTURE...