Day 5 by Zac

“Zac you drive stick, can you go pick up the last few people from the farm?” Don’t know who told John, or maybe he just assumed correctly, but at 10AM that Saturday morning I got my first real taste of the dirt road down the mountain. WOW, what a ride! Say what you will about the taxes we pay on gas, but the road conditions alone are proof that we have $$ going towards construction infrastructure. Packed 6 or 7 people into a 5 seater, passed the AUX chord to the back seat, and danced our way back to the Kashar (we turned down the music before we got there, but I’m pretty sure they heard us coming). The bus that had normally been taking our whole group at once had been sent to pick up our guests for the day: a load of students. They were coming to the Kashar as an excursion, but also with an assignment.

This whole group had been taking English courses, and were to practice their conversational skills with us. We were expecting about 10, so when more than 20 arrived (plus another vehicle of guests came later on too I believe) some of our plans for the day quickly changed. We were going to have a time (set up as a game) where there would be one-on-one rotations where we would quickly get to know each other through a series of scripted questions, but it was immediately realized that would not be a successful way to navigate the time, nor to give them the best opportunity. So, our team intentionally joined them in all the activities (horseback riding, sitting

through Eagle Hunter demonstrations, over a meal and at the snack table, exploring the property and surrounding poppy fields) plus jumped in on their various friend groups and genuinely had great chats for the hours they were there. Hearing their hobbies and goals for the future, and apparently joking with them (tell us something about zac “HE’S FUNNY” was the group response 🤷🏻‍♂️🥰) was truly special. 

 Huge shoutout to Ruslan, one of the guys who works at The Farm. His task for the day was lunch. And I know I saw him starting to gather firewood that morning. When the people just kept coming and coming, I don’t know what was going through his head, but he executed things perfectly.

 Update from the farm

We are still looking for $500 for food hampers . I am  hoping to get them looked after quick because I know what's coming next ... COAL. 

The first of many truck loads of coal have  arrived.  last year we used 25 loads of coal to meat the needs .  One load costs about $650 USD if we start buying in a few weeks , but if we are able to get it now we can save about $100 a load . and that's a huge savings for us . 
We have also found the same thing with the fire wood that we give with the coal to get the fires going .. so any donations for coal at this time would be a great blessing .. On average a family will use 2 to three tons at $80 a ton .. we give out one ton per family (20 bags) to start them off and some we need to repeat during the winter. 

1 truck load $640

1 ton  $80

1 bag   $4