what have you tried !

Tomorrow is international slavery awareness day .   

" Ya so what can we do about it ?" ....... " what have you tried !"

I can remember clearly the first time I realized that slavery still exists .  It was one of the men that Jenish was helping that began to tell me his storey of living as a slave, and how he had escaped.  I then began to look into this more and I became overwhelmed with what I was finding.  YES Slavery is  alive and well in 2014 .   The kids that leave the orphanage are at risk of being sold or stolen , those living on the street, young girls or boys out walking alone,  and the most vulnerable of society, ALL at risk .  

So yes I will continue to stand against.   

I will stand for him .. and so many others like him 

Young boy at the mens home .. the cage is to keep him safe .. but for what ever reason ,  its still a cage 

You see the effects of slavery run wide and deep .    It is not just those that have been stolen or who have escaped, but it affects everyone.  The Man above is not a slave, but is behind the cage because of slavery .   There is a large fence around the compound of the mens home ,  I asked about the cage or why men were locked up.. The answer was that if they wander, there are people prowling the area waiting for them to come out of the home so that they can steel them to sell into slavery.    As if there were not enough problems in there lives, they now must have this fear hanging over them .   

One day we took a bunch of kids from the orphanage swimming in the chui river. As one of the boys looked across the river and realized that the other side was Kazakhstan , he began to panic.  you see we found out that his parents were stolen and taken to Kazakhstan as slaves, leaving him an orphan.  They tell me that although it is not legal in Kazakhstan, the police will do nothing , in fact one of the men that I talked to had escaped from slavery, and made it 200 miles to the border, and just before he got over the border, the local police caught him and held him as there slave for another six months forcing him to work for them and renting him out to others.  Then as many of you may remember , one of the kids that Emma was helping was sold into slavery by his family, and three other girls Emma pulled from a car as they were being taken away .. It is just to close to us to ignore .   

So what do you do about it .. well If we can be there to help the kids make correct choices in life and not be in harms way, that is a big one .. a couple weeks ago we raised money for the homeless.  through that , along with all the meals given out , there were two girls taken off the street, and give a safe home .  

Then we have the mens home ..when we started working there , 80 men died in a two week period from starvation and exposure .   How is this much better then the alternative of slavery.. when the most vulnerable of society are in conditions no better then the work camps, we have a real problem, and not one that we can tun a blind eye to .  That is why we have chosen to pour so much time and resources into the work that Larisa does at the mens home.  There has to be a quality of life for these men.  And through your help we can provide that.  

Did you know that the majority of the men at the mens home are just grown up orphans from the orphanages .. and the kids that we are working with in the disabled orphanages now , we will be finding here in the very near future.  these are the kids we are trying to provide for and we need your help. 

Since that first day we walked through the doors of the mens home in 2008, along with the on going food and vitamin drops , we have equipped a warming room in each section, we have provided mattresses and blankets, a full physiotherapy wing with a library, a class room, a quiet room and a couple craft and sewing rooms .  we have helped to put in a garden for them, as well as fields of fruit trees and raspberries.  Through your help we have repaired and replaced much of the water system and just this last fall have put in the new heating system, new windows and doors , a barber shop, we have even begun working out side painting murals on the yard so that the men will see more then just a big white concrete fence.    There is just so much that has been done, but we have just touched the surface .    Did you know that the very first time I went there, I was so overwhelmed that I came away saying that I would never go back.  Then one of you sponsors sent $1000 with the instructions .. " Go back and see what you and accomplish with this "  from that time on we have never looked back .. starting by doing what we can do , we have accomplished what others said could not be done .  

When we help them , it sends a few messages.. it tells the men that they are special and they do have value.. it shows them that some one cares .  The other message it sends to the government and administration is similar.. these men are so valuable that people are coming from around the world to help them .  That there well being is a high priority .  and that these men, and the least of these deserve the best.  they should be treated with dignity and respect.. not in the condition as slaves.  

So when we are asking for help for tables and chairs to at least have seats on the frame.. it is not just a seat, it is sending a message to everyone that we are still here , and we still care, and we will continue to be here for these big orphans.   

Mens home director asking for help with the charis 

That is part of the message that we are bringing as we travel around bringing updates to sponsors and encouraging them to please donate to the many areas that we are called to in Kyrgyzstan 

sharing in Brantford where $650 was raised to help repair the Chairs 

Please take a moment now and send a message of support in the way of a donation.  Believe me it is way more then just the chairs and the flooring .. it is a strong message that these men have more value then just slaves.   so like the support of Emma and her kids or Jenish and the homeless, Bekah and her students, this is another way that we can answer the question .. "Ya so what can we do about it "   

please we are asking that you just do what you can .. and nothing more 

Emma meats up with one of her girls to bring her a birthday gift and a cake, and go over her plans for safety and success