Aiperi brings HOPE to those around her.

Many of you will remember Angola's daughter Aiperi.

Aiperi left the farm a few years ago, but we chat with her regularly.  She told us that in her region things are very bad, and so many people are sick and starving.  She had helped us pack and deliver so many food hampers when she was on the farm.  She wanted to help those around her now, but could not raise the resources to do so .  We have decided to send her some money to start deliveries to those most impacted, and will try to send her more help as available.   

Today she received the money and started packing and delivering .. She had delivered 10 packages so far and tonight was on her way to one grandmother that was too weak to come to her.  

Thank you Aiperie for caring for your neighbours and thank you to all of you who have helped us so that we can do this. 

 

Doing what regular people do !

 When I look and see our boys on the farm experiencing things that so many others might take for granted .. fun, but not anything unbelievable , it sure makes me smile .  With out the support of so many of you, these kids would  most likely be homeless,  and the statistics say , in prison, prostitution or dead.  Instead they are enjoying a Late on their way to the beach .  

What is even more cool is that we helped to organize this event, but apart from the newest boys who have not been with us long enough to earn money, they each were able to pay their own way .    

We did send a little extra money to surprise them with a boat ride at the lake on us.  Because that's the type of thing that regular people do . 

I look at the boys here at the back of the boat.  4 of them have only just come to the farm .  I know their past, and what they have had to endure .. they were in our minds when the farm began so many years ago , and now we see those kids aging out of the system and coming to HOME that so many of you created .. ... That's what makes me smile. 

Right where he belongs

Every now and then I do a "Where are they now" post .  Today I wanted to share about Yura .. 

We have known Yura for about 15 years now.  He is such a sweet boy .  He was one of those boys that has an infectious smile.   Yura made an impression on every one he met.  

If there was fun to be had, Yura is there.  School was never easy for him , but he persevered and always did his best.   He is one of those kids that we had in mind when the farm began .

Today he is smiling a little bigger because he is our newest boy at the farm .. We are smiling too 

We are working now at getting him settled and finding the right fit for him as far as work is concerned.  We have a few things to take care of first , like we will need to make sure he is set with clothing, shampoo tooth brush etc.. 

Monday he will join the other boys on the farm on a camping trip to the shores of IsyKool , it will give him a chance to build some relationships with Vlad and the other boys .  

We will need to find a monthly sponsorship for him .  The cost to look after a boy on the farm including food , lodging and their salary is $150 a month, we are blessed to report that this was covered in just minutes of this posting  .. There are many other extra expenses that come along all the time like medical, dental, tuition and clothes ,any other funds that come in will go toward these things  .. 

Where is he now ?.... Right where he belongs 😀

Those in front of us

In case you thought it was over... the food deliveries continue daily from the farm.  

Sergey out on deliveries from the farm 

Now that we have produce from the gardens and honey from the bees, we are able to get a lot more bang for the buck with the food hampers. 

We will continue at this pace for some time yet before we turn our attention to the coal .  If we can get in early, and bag it on the farm  we can purchase coal for about $15 or $20 a ton cheaper . That could be a savings of over $2500.   If you would like to help with this, we are taking donations for this now .   This will be especially important this year as the drought conditions will likely impact the electricity this winter . The reservoirs are low and the ability to produce electricity will be effected. 

It just seems like the difficulties will never end, but if we can stay proactive rather the reactive,  we will be better able to serve those placed  in front of us. 
 

Praying for the bees .. BY NAME

This summer has been a very difficult one for the farmers in Kyrgyzstan .  There has been a very bad drought.  Water to the village homes is very intermittent and there has not been water for irrigation in the fields.   Our own hay and grain crops are down about 60% .. some have lost their crops completely. This has lead to exorbitantly high feed prices. 

The drought has hit the honey production hard as well.   For us , a regular year we get about 16 lt per hive which is a little higher then most .  

Our bees are in with an apiary of about 130 other hives .   Here is a break down of this years honey production .  Talbek has 75 hives and got 85 lt ,  Vlady has 40 hives and got 80 lt .. we have 15 hives, and we got 120 lt.   Talbek says that we must be praying for our bees ..BY NAME.. 

Yesterday Vlady sent me photos of three different orphanages that he delivered honey to. 

Back at the farm everyone was busy preparing food hampers. 

We feel blessed that each of the dry goods bags will include a bottle of honey.  

The packages of the dry goods are all set .  Now each day as the harvest from the gardens comes in they will put together produce packages to go with them and then deliver . 

Thank you everyone for your hard work 

 And a special thank you to all of you who donated to make this possible . 

A better tasting muffin

I sat at the breakfast table,with my coffee, a banana, and tried to decide which kind of muffin I would like.  Then decided"what the heck , I will have both."  That's when I got an email request from Vlad asking if they can please send out another 100 food hampers .  I the fourth wave, many are just too sick to be out working , nor should they ... 

 My first reaction was that we just don't have the funds for that right now and we are behind on the tuition fund .. then I took another bite of my muffin and felt the conviction .... 

This week we will begin another round of food hampers ..along with produce from the garden and honey from our bees , we need another $1000 for staple supplies .. please consider helping us with this .. I guarantee that your next muffin will taste better if you do.