welcome to The Farm Rustan

I am happy to introduce you to our newest member of The Farm family .  Rustan is quite the clown .. no literally, we first met him when he was working as a clown as an assistant to Bubbles the clown.  He has helped us at the orphanages and community centers as we have traveled the valley .  We are happy to have him with us now. Please remember him, and the others  over the next few weeks especially as he settles in and finds his way .  

the first time we met Rustan (link or original story)

Hope to the hopeless  (link or original story)

I am happy to give a great update about Auxana.  We had a sponsor come forward to replace her chickens and ducks and some .. so as soon as we rebuild the barn we will fill it up again ..  she will be receiving  12 chickens 10 ducks 5 geese 1 milk goat and 2 kids plus 2 pigs will be given to support other families that we know .  we still have some animals available right now to go to families in need .  by this time tomorrow what ever is not sold will be loaded into a truck and go to market .  

Help bring Emma and Jengish to Canada to have a baby.   (link or original story)

Yesterday I shared about the quilt going to Espanola to one of our supporters who helped with the challenge to get Jengish and Emma's baby to Canada .. oh ya .. and them too. we 

Our goal is $5000 to cover their flights, the additional flight expenses for Julie and I to go back early (summer rates are a lot more ) to host teams and help at the farm as well as purchasing medical insurance .  Between the donations and our visa , we able to purchase tickets on Tuesday  night   It got scary for a bit, the flights went from about $2200 each to over $3000 in a mater of minutes , even going directly to the airlines site they were up over $3000 and the site forecaster indicated that they would be going up more.  After some nail biting and hair pulling I was able to get the flights for $2900 for the two of them .  They will drive to Almaty Kazakhstan and fly out from there, with one stop in Frankfort . looks like a good flight . 

Julie and I will fly out separately .  I will get in to KG a few days before the team to help get things ready , and Julie will fly in with the guests coming from Canaada.  We have long transfers in Paris, 13 hours on the way there , and 26 hours on the way back, but it saves over $1000 each so we will deal with it . 

Next up is the travel medical insurance.  Emma must be in Canada for three months before her health insurance kicks back in , so we will need to bridge that , as well we will need coverage for Jengish .  The difficult part was finding an insurer who will except her being expecting.  Then I found a Manulife policy that will except her up until the third trimester , so we are in just under the wire. .. $995 for Jengish for the year and $360 for Emma for the 92 days .  so that is the next hurtle .. we need to find Close to $1500 after taxes , but we do have until the 18th to purchase this so I have a bit of time to transfer through the banks any support that comes in during the next week .  

Blanket Auction 

I mentioned that I had one more blanket available.  For this one we will remove any chance , we will simply send it to the highest bidder.  The proceeds will go to purchase more material both for the sewing room and for the wood shop .  If you would like to place a bid you can do that through FB or email me directly sunmasterjohn@aol.com .. I will keep current High bid each day posted here on the blog .  This auction will run until Juy 7.   current high bid is $45.  

Aiperi in the sewing room with some of the purses and pillows she is making for the gift shop 

Matat in the work shop with a corner bench he is building 

Today the boys were out picking Cherries ,   Not a bad haul for the morning .  Looks like we are going to have to start buying more canjing supplies again soon . Good job boys .

Hope to the Hopeless

How many times have you found yourself in what seems like a Hopeless situation.    I know I have .. even this last couple weeks I have had a few sleepless nights worrying about all the things going on .. The financial pressures of Jengish and Emma returning to Canada and Julie and I going back early, the pressures of restructuring the work we do in Kyrgyzstan so that no one is neglected.  then there are the on going pressures.  One of our co workers is going in on Monday for an operation others need some dental work , and then in the middle of  all that there is this. Auxana's home and barn hit by the winds ..  and she is still smiling, and not simply because she was told to .. (we all know that does not work there hahaha )

The Hurricane winds that blew through took part of the roof off her home, and also destroyed  her barn, and blew away her chickens and ducks that she raises to support her family.   She is very worried and upset .. but life has been so hard for her that this is not an unfamiliar place she finds herself now.    I guess when you don't have much , you don't have much to loose ,  or is that when you don't have much, it is easy to loose everything !

We have seen hopelessness before , and I am sure we will see it again.  But time and time again I have seen hope restored , like our Babushka who lost everything in a fire a year ago, then had so much restored in the fall thanks to many of you. 

 

So What to do about Auxana .. Well as soon as I get back we will begin reconstruction with a team coming  .. we have some roof tiles to repair the house, and we will salvage what we can from the barn and rebuild.  You see we are not rebuilding a barn, we are rebuilding a life.   Once the barn is rebuilt, we will bring her to the farm and let her pick out some new chickens and ducks .. we happen to have a few .  

Auxana is not the only one that we know right now in a seemingly hopeless position.  Only a little over a week ago through the support of a group in Patrolia, we were able to bring some goats from the farm to help out some families in need. 

here is a short video of the goats arriving ... ( No idea why they arrived in the back of our car but that's life at the farm for you )

As part of our restructuring , we have decided it is best to down size our animals right now while the prices are higher rather then waiting for the fall when everyone is selling .. It will also take some of the pressure off of the workers at the farm with out Jengish and Emma there,  then once everyone finds their place we can look at expanding the herd again .  At this time we will be keeping the sheep, and a few cows , as well as the cows that those at the farm have bought for their future investments . This weekend they will be taking a truck load of goats and cows to the market. 

I got thinking that this might be a great opportunity to continue to bless people like Auxana and others who find themselves in hopeless situations .  If any of you would like to purchase one of the animals from the farm. we will make sure that if finds the perfect home and restores hope to the hurting helpless or lost .. 

here is what we have for sale 

milk goats                 $125

kids                         $50

Large milk cow          $1000

two year old  cow that is ready

 to start having calves $800 

one year old female cow  $500 

Geese                $15

Ducks              $10

Chickens        $8

            Pig          $100 

I have a fun announcement to make .  The winner of the first quilt is one of our great sponsors in Espanola Ontario.  Maybe when Jengish and Emma get back we can have them bring it up in person.  A great chance for them to visit many of our friends there . 

We still have a ways to go, but were able to get almost half of the flights covered so we were able to purchase them last night , now we just need half so we can pay back the visa card when the bill comes in . 

If you would like one of these beautiful quilts, check back tomorrow and I will share how you can get one as well. 

The harvest is beginning

Despite winter hanging on for a full extra month this spring, we have started to harvest.  We were able to start these cucumbers in the green house.  the first batch we planted directly in the fields were not so fortunate, but they have been replanted and will be bearing fruit shortly as well. . 

prices have started falling at the bazaar  so we will start canning for the winter . 

this is the second plant for these , but they are catching up quickly 

in the green house the tomatoes are continuing to grow 

lots of tomatoes  now we just need them to start getting ripe 

 

they are starting to get some colour in them, it should not be long now 

peppers are doing well .. there were a few spots that the snow took out, but the rows are double planted, and we found from other years that it gets too crowded to get in and pick, so we left the open spots rather then replanting so we have some spots to work in the field and put the crates when picking 

Peppers are starting to form 

  The tomatoes in the fields are just small but they are starting .. close to the kitchen we have a section of garden that has a little bit of everything so that they don't have to walk to the other end of the garden to get produce for the table ..  the photo on the right is the red cabbages in that garden .  

the zucchini is looking ready to start picking now as well .. these are small but in a few days they will be huge

cucumbers are starting to look full 

the trees are starting to fill with fruit as well .  That is nice to see.. the apples in the market have been too expensive to buy for a couple months now, so it will be nice to have more fruit to give out 

we have about 1000 of these in this section of the garden .. they will be ready to pick soon as well 

It is always hard for me to  be  back in Canada away from the Gardens .. so much work goes into planting and the first major weeding , then I leave ,, I love walking through the gardens every day watching the produce grow.  So this year we decided that since Emma and Jengish will be here in Canada for the harvest, we would  plant a few things.. certainly nothing the the scale of Kyrgyzstan , but its a start .. . Here are my tomatoes and cucumbers . in Canada . hahaha 

The Air is on

With the day time temperatures pushing 100 degrees, and the waiting room so full at the baby hospital, it is such a blessing that we were able to put in the air conditioning today .. A special thank you to those of you who had a part in this 

Help bring Emma and Jengish to Canada to have a baby.

Yesterday we shared the exiting new about a baby on the way.  

In preparation for this we have made some organizational changes.  Emma will need to be in Canada for three months before her health insurance kicks in, so we will be changing things up right away.  Emma and Jengish will be coming to Canada in the end of July and Julie and I will return to Kyrgyzstan in the middle of August. 

We try not to travel to and from Kyrgyzstan in the middle of the summer as the flights are more expensive then .  To get them home, cover insurance for Jengish, and pay the extra to get Julie and I back, we need to come up with $5000 right away . 

We have prepared  a little incentive for any one that would like to help us.

Many of you have or know about the beautiful blankets that Aigoola makes.  They are the warmest most comfortable blankets you would ever use. 

We have brought an extra special one of these blankets home with us. It has been made with 50 % more filling in it. 

For the next week, up until June 28th, for every donation of $100 or multiples of $100 made toward help with flights, I will put your name in a draw for one of these beautiful comfy blankets.  So far we have one donation in for $300, so their name is in the draw 3 times ..  

Exciting news .

We have some exciting news, and at the same time a great need.  Emma sent this letter today ..




"So the news is out!!!! We are so excited to announce that in the end of January there will be a new addition to the Odigski family!!!!!

Jenish and I are working on getting everything set at the farm to be able to come home to Canada for the rest of the pregnancy and to have the baby. We will be living at our home near Norwood, Ontario. With this new adventure coming up we need help to get home! We are working on getting the money in place for tickets so that I can be home with time for health care to kick in during the pregnancy and birth. We are planning to be home by the beginning of August to Peterborough area. .While home, Jengish and I would love to come and visit and share our adventures.  Mom and Dad will return to Kyrgyzstan early August to help look after the farm.    We are so thankful and really appreciate that we have so many people praying for us and supporting us."  


We will be needing to purchase the tickets as soon as possible.   Travel insurance for Jengish and flights for the two of them will be about  $4000, as well for Julie and I to return earlier in the summer  we are at a peak time so so our flights will be about $500 each more then usual .  

We will try to figure out some ways of raising some of these expenses, but for now we would really appreciate any support possible .. 

We have been working towards this transition at the farm over the spring, and we have most of the responsibilities divided up among our other coworkers with each taking on a bit more responsibility , but as you can imagine Jengish and Emma will be hard to replace in Kyrgyzstan, but great representatives of Actofkindness here in Canada and the US.  Please pray for a smooth transition and the necessary finances to pull this all together. 

update from the airport

It was an exciting week.  The biggest news to report right now is that Bekah has graduated.  She completed a dual diploma from both American University of Central Asia and Bards Collage of NY. 

This week Bekah cleaned out her locker , and moved to her new office at the University where she will be teaching starting in August . 

We had a fun day with everyone and a couple groups of guests from the farm last week as well.  We went to the waterfalls, then to the yurt for lunch where we had the eagle hunters visit and the horses there for people to ride.  The best part was sitting on the deck in the afternoon and watching all the animals coming and going . 

We finished the new light and the hood over the kazans as well as replaced the one that got burned out when the boys were "keeping an eye on it " 

we also got the floor painted and the back splash up behind the counters. 

I did a walk around the farm before we headed for the airport   everything is coming along great .  There will be tomatoes to pick very soon and the little sticks we planted last year are already starting to get apples on them. 

We have the gardens divided into 10 sections , this section is the beats .  We have finaly gotten ahead of the weeds here . 

Olga had a couple great events for Children's day.  the one I was able to attend was for the kids that came from families that had children with disabilities in them .. there were about 20 disabled kids, but with their siblings and other family members, that brought us to about 70 kids that day .. there was games, icecream, pop, toys, food hampers and clothes given out.

Back at the farm we moved the pigs to the barn over on the boys side, then the barn where the main house is got all cleaned out and painted .  We have moved the Holstein and one of the goats back down from the mountain .. they are a bread that does not do as well in the mountain, so will be nice to have a milk cow at  the home farm  . 

 The hospital waiting room air conditioning fund is coming along well .. we just need another $300 US and we can get them installed

Well they are calling our gate now so I will post more later ..