On to the next phase..

We can do this .. that was the feeling I had when we first arrived at this burned out house.  If you have not been following, this is the home of the parents and grandmother of a friend of Jengishes .  She is living in Russia and contacted us to see if we could help.  

We have now completes the second half of the roof and ready to start inside.  Its great to have this done as they are now calling for a week of rain.   

Next up is to start the windows and the doors.   this will be about $100 each. we have one sponsored already and will need $900 more then we will do this .  It is such a blessing to see this come together and slowly hope being restored .  

we got the deck varnished at the yurts   Everything made it through the winter with out any trouble 

we made this center in the eating area to scrape plated and sort garbage .. it will make everyone's  job a little easier and more organized 

We have started raising Brown Brahma chickens .  We bought a rooster and eight hens.  They are beautiful and very friendly.  An average chicken here is worth about 300 som and a Brahma  hen sells for about 1300 som. 

the incubator is fully automated and computer controlled with temperature and humidity as well as turning the eggs every two hours .

we have gotten a start at planting in the fields by putting in long low hoop houses 

We are enjoying the daily coffee break at the cafe.  Its a great time to visit with the kids. Everyone loves the time , it helps them to feel special and is a great motivator .   

"START BY DOING WHAT YOU CAN DO"

The first half of the roof is on and a few patches on the back side .  we were slightly under budget and found that the back half will no need new trusses, so we will be able to complete it for just $400 ..minus the donation we have in for $100 so we are now ;looking for just $300 to finish the whole roof.  I am often reminded of what a friend told me one .. "START BY DOING WHAT YOU CAN DO , AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT YOU WILL BE DOING WHAT OTHERS SAID COULD NOT BE DONE "   We can do this !

Coffee is on

It was still a little cool outside , but the late's are hot . 

After putting the cafe back together for the summer, everyone drifted over for a coffee, a dozen late's later I got to sit down and join them.  The coffee shop is such a great place to be able to sit with the kids and visit .  It is like they leave troubles and work behind when they sit down, and get to have a moment of normal ... what ever that is.  

The farm bees are up in the mountain, but there are still lots of bees in the fields at the farm.  One of our neighbors a couple doors down works for us part time.  He does a walk around the farm properties every night to make sure everything is ok and that the fires are on, especially the one in the green house .  All that to say, that he has bees as well as a big  part of his income.  This winter he had a large die off as a result of the extreme cold   

I sat down with him a couple days ago with him and he showed  me a bee house that is used in the north of Russia.  It is like a condo for bees that holds 40 separate families of bees.  By keeping them all under one roof, they generate enough heat as a group to keep the hive temperature correct.  There are many other benefits to this as well.  It is much more compact then having 40 separate hives.  From the inside there are windows into the hives so that you can at a glance monitor the haves to see how they are doing.    Servicing the hives is also done from inside the house which will lead to optimal honey production and health of the hives. 

We are thinking that we could take this up a notch and be able to make this an educational tool that he could open it up to visitors to safely see the inside workings of a hive and include some of the processing tools to view and sell the honey right from inside the house.  Situated beside the guest house and across the road from the museum, this could add to the draw of the community. 

We are expecting the total cost of this project to be about $2000.  We are hoping to provide the funds as an interest free micro loan, that will be paid back toward other micro financing projects once it is up and running and the honey is flowing.   If any of you are interested or know anyone interested in providing a micro loan for this project , please pass on the information.  This would be a donation so would be tax respectable.   

We have several teams coming this spring, with the first one arriving in a couple weeks.   This fist team we will have them working on the farm, but will also be helping another family in the village . 

There are always a ton of kids at the park, and we found out that 14 of them live in this house .  

There are a collection of kids from a few different families all living together in this one house. 

The house could use lots of repairs, but the most important right now is to fix the roof so that the rains don't damage the house any more, and they don't start having a mold problem.  

I stopped in to see them a couple days ago.. three more kids are out playing while this photo was taken ... likely out at the park . 

WE CAN DO THIS !

We visited the fire site we shared about a couple weeks ago.  This is the home of a friend of Jengish's.    We brought or friend and builder Koder with us to assess the damage and to make a game plan.  Half of the front side of the house the roof is completely gone.  step #1  We have $500 in donations in so far and will be able to replace the damaged rafters and put on a new roof on this side. This will cover things up so that it is not exposed to the elements. step #2.   Then when we raise another $500 we will replace the back half of the roof.   

step #3  The house will need to be completely gutted .  It will also need  8 new windows and a new door.  this will be around $1000. this will close in the house and then we will be ready to continue.

step #4   We will need to pressure wash and completely seal all the walls ceiling and floor with a special oil paint so that the smell will be eliminated,  This will be about $500 

and step #5 the walls will all be re plastered  and then the walls ceiling and floors will get a final coat of paint and they will be ready to move back in .   This step will  cost $1000   

So if you total that up  we will need $3000 to complete this project.  So work will start on Monday of the first step, then each will begin as funds become available. 

Happy "PEE" day

Yesterday being pie day we decided to meet with our kid in the city to have a pi party , we had  a laugh because the Russian term for pi is pee   so happy pee day everyone. 

Kamalla and I made these really good chicken pot pies for supper.

There was a small problem at the play ground.  There are always so many kids on the swing that it finally gave out.   I sent Beksolten down with a couple boys and they removed it and brought it back to the shop and rebuilt it. they put a new pipe inside and also welded a piece of extra angle iron on the top for extra support.   The second it was done and back the kids were pilled back on and having fun. 

Baktagul was out for a visit for a couple days .. It was nice to see her. 

We had some other friends out to the farm as well.  He is helping a family in the village that had run out of flour.  

When Vlad got there with him, he found that she is in much more need then just flour and coal ,  Her milk has dried up, and the baby is only three months old.  What she needs is formula.  That will cost about $60 a month .  So we will put that out there if anyone would like to sponsor this for about 6 more months would be awesome. 

Radishes are starting to bulb up and will be ready for picking in about 2 weeks .  

Aiperi is hard at work making new blankets for the gift shop , and to have for when we find people in need 

Little billy is doing very well with his formula and is now sitting up on his own. 

Back in Kyrgyzstan

We have been back in Kyrgyzstan for 4 days now.  Jet leeeeeeeg ..

We got in on Wednesday morning and met up with Bekah at a coffee shop for breakfast .  It was funny we  walked into a restaurant to meet Bekah and knew two other tables .. one with a friend from here and one was a couple we know from the US.   

Later in the day we had supper with our Bishkek kids at Acels place.  

Thursday we were back at it. Short days at first but it sure was great to see everyone.    There have been some changes while we have been away,  Ruslan seems to be settling in. and the others are doing well.  They were happy to tell us how much they like Vlad and how kind and caring he is .  They appreciate the one on one time they get with him through out the day. 

Friday we had a group of a dozen with kids from one of the orphanages come over to the farm for lunch and a visit.  Nurick has the barns so nice and clean, it was great for them to see animals so well looked after, including our newest calf who is about 10 days old.     

Saturday was a busy day as well.  We had a new guy, Kolya, come and join us on the farm. as well Bekturson one of our students we are helping came out for the day with us to see the farm and get set up with a bed.  He will start coming out on weekends to earn some money for his weekly expenses.

With all these kids on the farm and the spring planting still a little over a month away, we need to get organized to keep them all busy , fortunately there is a lot to do.   We sat down and filled a white board with things to do over the next week..

First up on the list was to scrape and paint the floor on the cafe porch  

Then over in the green house  they were planting peppers and spaghetti squash.

the next crop of radishes are up , and the potted flowers are coming up nice.

the spinach and other salads  are in full force, and the hanging baskets of strawberries are ready to plant back out into the garden. 

 For lunch yesterday Aiperi made plof and served it with these awesome spinach canapes

today will be a day off and tomorrow we will be back at it .