I arrived at the farm with Nick around 4:00 today, all was good and I was tired so I just headed home for a nap.. I was thinking I was a poofter as there was so much to do, but I was just not in it today.
Then I thought back over the day and realised that maybe it was not all a waist. We stared this morning in Bishkek where we picked up Nick to head back into the valley. The first stop was to an orphanage in Kant. We had a donation for new spring clothes for the kids there. We had our young friend at the Bazaar do the shopping for us .. He got some great deals with some very good quality clothes for them ..
While we were there we talked to the director and invited them to our MEN WHO COOK event in a few weeks. So far we have one ticket sold .. that's $25 or 5 kids sponsored for the Kyrgyz picnic of all picnics ...
Next stop was to Auxana's house in Red River. She is going to raise baby chickens, ducks and geese for us. We have great success with them on the farm once they reach two months old, but until then no so good. Auxana knows what she is doing, and has a very high success rate. It works out well, it gives her a little extra money to live on and we get our babies past the delicate stage .
Auxana's gardens are all tilled and rowed and ready to plant, but she had no seeds yet. So I hot out my crate of seeds from the van and let her pick through.
When we built the barn, we did not put electricity in so today we also hooked up a couple heat lamps for the chicks as well .
100 day old chicks and 50 one month old chicks
After we were all set up and we had brought her to the bazaar to get supplies, we also invited Auxana and her kids to the Picnic as well .. so we have made all the arrangements and invited the special guests , now I just need some of you to go to the iam1ru site and make $25 donation or buy a ticket to the event. to do so, click on the photo bellow
There is an organisation that has been a great support to us and what we do here in Kyrgyzstan, in fact there are many of the special needs that we share here on the blog have been funded in whole or in part by our friends at Possibilities International. Like many of you, they ask for no credit, and are continually there quietly in the back ground making it possible for us to do what we do. The reason I am telling you this is that those funds have to come from somewhere , and one of their big events is the MEN WHO COOK Barbecue Edition .. Every year we miss the big event because we are in Kyrgyzstan, but you know that if I was in Canada I would for sure be entered in this competition.. If you did not know, my profession for 20 years was a cook / restaurant manager . I even did catering on the side. So I got thinking .."Why let 10 000 km get in the way .
So how can we do this .. Well Each cook has to sell 8 tickets at $25 a ticket and cook 40 portions for the event .. so that works out to 8 tickets / $25 .. So for every ticket someone purchases in my name or donates in my name if you can't make it to the event, I will cook a special BBQ meal for 5 orphans. This has got me thinking what would be an awesome traditional meal I could serve,, I have settles on Shashleek and Ploff. and depending on the # of tickets sold I may have to take some kids fishing as well so we can add fresh grilled fish to the menu..For this I may have to enlist the help of some of my other MEN WHO COOK here in Kyrgyzstan ... Here is what the menu will look like
As I looked at the application to enter, I see that there will be awards as well .. "There will also be awards for the cooks that are judged as "peoples choice", "best decorated area"...and much more". I love a good competition, but am at a slight disadvantage because the judges will not be able to actually taste the food I make.. but they always told me in Culinary School that presentation is 90% of the meal .. So here is what we will do .. since this is an authentic Kyrgyz meal, we will Present it in the most incredible way imaginable ... on a small plateau 6500 feet up in the foot hills of the Himalayas.. We will travel up the mountain face by 4x4's where we will meet up with some native ranchers who will give the kids horse back rides...
Everything right down to the Chai (tea) will be cooked in the traditional manor
But if that is not enough, I have called in the ringer .. we will be visited by Talbek and Tumara, Champion eagle hunters.
You want a competition...hahaha Bring it on .. So here is what I need from you .. go to the iam1ru.com page link found here and purchase a ticket for just $25 . If you are not actualy going to go to the event, please be sure to let them know in the memo box provided at check out so that we can know to prepare your meal here and not there. There is one other way you can attend.. Aeroflote JFK to FRU conecting in Moscow would have you here in just 18 hours..
Things went well for Nurlan today. It worked out that there was a team of Dr's here from Germany so he was seen by them all.
It was determined that he will not need another cleft pallet operation, and we got the go ahead to take him to a dentist to have the rest of his dental work done, Then after the dentist, he will go back to make sure everything is OK .. But hay... Whats a trip to the city with out a meal at Imperial Pizza ..
Julie and I spent the last couple days in the City with Bekah working on our travel visa's, and Bekah on her passport renewal. We also had appointments with the back Dr. I had pulled a tendon in my leg while the first team was here, then from walking on it I managed to put my back out of line so needed an adjustment to get me up and around again.
Bekah was telling me about her trip to the Canadian Consulate Office .. she was telling me how it was in a sketchy area in a basement apartment , when I teased her a bit , she showed me the photo .. VERY IMPRESSIVE
Any ways back at the farm the work is continuing. They have finished the new front gate and wall, tomorrow we will put the old wall back up along the side of the house that Aigula is in. It will take a couple warm days for the cement to dry, then we will paint the barn inside and out. On a side note, the egg production has almost doubled since we got the chickens into the new pens, so they must be happy.
Today we picked up the spring clothes for one of the orphanages we have been asked to help out at. We have a young guy at the bazaar that I can just bring a list to and he does all the running around and |ALWAYS comes back with the best quality at the cheapest price .. this time he even made two trips to the big bazaar in Bishkek to do the shopping .. We are so impressed with the quality and how well organised he is .. He sure makes our job easier.
Some really great news. Yesterday I posted some needs on line here and several of you responded . We are about half way there in just one day. That is so great because we have been able to get started on some of those needs right away. Today we contacted the Dr's at the Jal Children's hospital, and Tomorrow Emma and Jengish will bring Nurlan in to the Dr there. He needs a lot of work on his teeth, but with the Cleft Pallet, it can be complicated , so we needed the Dr's help. Because of your support, we can do that now.
We have started the weeping bed for the girls home and although the ties are not in yet, we have been able to get the toilet working again. I am hoping that tomorrow we will be able to get our newest boy set up with the clothes and bedding he needs. and I will be picking up the supplies needed to fix the banya .
The work shop Door is finished now and the locks are on. Tomorrow Beksultan will weld the bars for the window, and we will build the work bench.. That way the back of my car will not have to house all the tools.
I bought about 800 cabbages and about 500 onions today , they will be planted in the rows in the orchard. then tomorrow we will seed the clover and that section of the garden will be planted and good for years to come . cabbages and onions this year, the clover will be ready for the ducks and geese by the fall and the roses will be ready to sell by next summer and in a couple years the apples will be ready .
When we were in the city today I picked up everything I need to make English style fish and chips, so tomorrow will be a culinary experience for the kids on the farm. And Julie will start Russian class for the the next two months.
We are facing a few unexpected expenses right now. Some can wait, but some can not be put off any longer. Maybe there is someone out there that is feeling led to help out at the farm but not sure what the needs are .. Here are a couple ..
1. While our friends were visiting, everyone had a preliminary dental exam along with a lesson on flossing, and brushing, along with new tooth paste and tooth brush. It looks like we are facing several hundred dollars in dental work needed , but some can not be put off.
Dental checks
Banya finished
2. This next need is a small one, but with other needs pending, we will have to wait until there is a sponsor. With the planting season on us, and so many kids, it was important to get the banya up and running so that the kids will be clean and healthy. After rebuilding it, we fired it up and the ceiling that was on when we got their simply melted and pealed off. We will need to replace this with wood.. and put in an exhaust fan . this will be about $75.
new bed room ready for workers minus bedding
3. We felt a bit of an urgency to get the next room ready so that we have room for more kids. Well the room is done, and the next boy will be arriving today. He is a young man about 20 years old who knew us from the orphanage, and just could not pull it together on his own .. With each new "worker" we are facing about $50 a month in Living expenses and about $50 a month in |salary and other incidentals. There is also always a start up expense as we help them with clothes and medical needs. (about $150) We could really use some help with this , either monthly or even a one time boost to help. We are so blessed that we have never had to turn a kid away for lack of funding, however we often will receive the worker on faith that the funding will show up.
4. We do need some more renovations done on the boys house. there is a small room that is in very bad shape. We would like to put in a small kitchen here and fix up the hall leading to it. Its hard to explain to the boys the need to live in a clean home if they don't have a lot to start with. They see all the work being done and are understanding that we are working on a better life for them , and this would be a great addition to that. to complete this renovation will be about $500 .. one that again will wait until a sponsor is found.
5. This is a big one for us and not one that we could put off and have had to start. We noticed that the toilets were running slow on the main house when the teams were there we had the septic tank pumped out, but it was full again in a couple days. It turns out it is only a holding tank and we need to put in the weeping tile bed. as well there may need to be some lines replaced, and we will put in a new updated toilet at the same time. this will be about $400 to complete.
If you are interested in helping with any of these it would be greatly appreciated, and you can use the donation buttons on the right and then watch the blog to see the updates as they are completed ..
Julie and I where on duty at the farm this weekend to give Aigula a break. We are starting to get the hang of this I think. Sunday morning we were back in Tokmok to visit friends and then take the kids shopping at the bazaar for new shoes. They each bought their own shoes from their salaries, and we bought them all new socks .. I went up to one of my favourite sellers and asked for 21 pairs of socks.. Julie looked shocked for a second, then did the math .. then wondered if 21 pairs would be enough hahaha.
Our old rooster was a bit of a trouble maker, and kept trying to beet up the big turkey .. over and over for several days he kept attacking the Turkey, but I don't think he ever got a single strike on the turkey.. The turkey would hope up and land on top of him ... but he never learned and kept coming back. One too many times .. so that said , we needed to get a new rooster .
We now have a fully enclosed chicken coop beside the turkey pen so we are hoping that they will get used to each other before they ever are on the same side of the fence, but just in case, this one is almost as big as the turkey . He is also very friendly, and will come right up to me for a visit .. the hens think he is pretty cool too.. they all gather around him .
We have been going through some old pictures looking for photos of the kids from years gone buy ..Who would have ever thought then that these kids would be part of out family here. It also makes me wonder now as I am at the orphanages and with some of the families that we support, What does the future have for them, how many of them will be coming to the farm when they are out of the system.
I was asking about one of the boys in particular that we knew from many years at the orphanage. I asked Roma If he has heard from Sarogea and asked how old he
is now and what he is doing . The boys all said that he got out of the orphanage this winter and was living on the streets at the Bazaar. He drank too much one night and passed out and froze to death... I have been silently grieving .. I try not to allow myself to go to the what ifs.. what if I had asked this question a few month ago.. what if. someone had been there for him. Instead I will choose to remember him and his storey to strengthen our resolve , and when one of the boys opened our new ink cartridges to see what they are and then tosses them into the outhouse so as not to get caught .. I will remember my little friend and be reminded where these kids would be if not for the farm.
We pulled up at the farm on Saturday and there was a boy standing at the gate.. He was about 20 years old.. scruff and pale .. he was asking if he could come to live at the farm. Right away Julie recognised him from one of the orphanages ..
Misha has been out of the orphanage for a couple years now, and just can't pull things together on his own. We told him that he was welcome to come ( good thing we finished that new room the day before ) and that until we got his medical clearance , at night he would be in a different room, but He was welcome to stay right away . He said he would go now and gather up his things and had a couple more days work where he was then would get his documents, see the Dr, then would move in on the 5th..
Last night I lay in bed listening to the rain and feeling the cold coming down from the mountain, and just pray that God would keep him safe.
Again I would like to thank all of you who have invested in us and the connections over all these years, and those that have invested in the farm so that there is no hesitation when one of these young people show up at the door. The bed is ready.
Let our What if's be focused on the positive... what if Jengish and Emma had not perserveared and started the farm.. What if people had not gotten behind us , what if we did not have the resorces to feed Misha or the bed for him ready .. these are the what if's I will focuse on ..
"The Outsiders"- Nead to breathe
Shortfalls and little sins
Close calls where no one wins
Stand tall but running thin
I'm wearing thin
Oh, why are we keeping score?
'Cause if you're not laughing
Who is laughing now?
The planting has begun out at the farm.. I will imagine that we will be planting almost every day for the next month or two. Today we were working on the roses. One of the farms we bought had a very large bed of young roses. They need to be thinned out, then in a few weeks the rose master will come out to the farm and prune and graft .. it is then that we will decide which will be steamed roses, which will be bushes and which will be climbers , but for now we needed to get them separated and out of the nursery bed. We have started to double and triple pant the apple orchard. We have planted a couple rose plants between each apple tree, and tomorrow we will freshly cultivate between the rows and plant cabbages, and then seed the whole area with alfalfa. The Cabbages will be harvested by mid June just as the alfalfa starts to take hold.
So far we have about 800 roses transplanted and likely about 2000 to go. By next year we will be able to start selling roses , both cut and plants to transplant.
We are working on a contraption to go on the back of the rotor tiller that will how the rows for us. The tractor will be able to come through on a single pass be ready to plant.
We will build one that has three plows on it that will make the rows and one will have a single plow on it for making the irrigation ditches.
The trees are doing well back at the apartment. next week we will move the seed pods to larger trays, then replant the first trays with Broccoli and other seeds.
