Friday, March 18, 2011

Happy New year Celebration from KashKa

Today is new years Day in Kyrgyzstan... or at least Monday is the Holiday, so everything is closed today.... so it was a great day to have a celebration.. and we had just the place .Waaayyyy off into the mountains there is the Lost city of KashKa. This was once a very prosperous city, it was the Switzerland of Kyrgyzstan.. a beautiful tourist city , with Theaters, Opera houses and the works.. All that remains today are the shells of a few houses and government buildings, the rest have been reduced to rubble . Now a village of about 100 people, the only remaining industry is selling reclaimed bricks.

There is still a lot of snow here.. We actually were trying to get here last Saturday, but the roads were not passable..

We arrived shortly after 12 today, and began making a feast for them ... As we were preparing, the crowd started to form .. They were all very excited to have us there .

We were let into an old Kindergarten. Darren lead us in several songs with the kids, and the girls taught them the actions.

Then the moment we had been waiting for.. handing out the Samaritans purse boxes...

It is always so cool to be a part of this. I have mentioned before that we have been a part of packing and shipping the boxes in Canada for about 17 years, and to be there when they are delivered is such a treat. It's one of those things that you do out of blind faith every year.. We believe that they are all going to good homes, but when you can be a part of seeing the impact it has on the kids, it can be overwhelming.

After giving out the gifts, we served them all a meal... I will post about that later today when we get back in... I have to run now....

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