My Day Today

There's not a lot new to write about today.  This past week I have continued my visits to the baby orphanage and today John invited me to go with them and a visiting team from Millbrook, Ontario to Orlovka Orphanage.  Then we ended the day at a friend's house for a traditional Kyrgyz meal of plov.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

On the way we stopped for photos.  I usually don't like eating apples but these are the best ever...MUCH better than our Annapolis Valley apples I'm sorry to say.

The kids put on a concert for the visitors

The visiting team bought vegetables for the orphanage

This is actually the appetizers

Plov...mmmmmmm!!

It’s Getting Cold!!!

It’s hard to believe that this week I will have been in Kyrgyzstan a month.  The time is flying by.  This past week I started my regular visits to spend time with the kids at Tokmok Baby Orphanage.  The kids in the group they assigned me to look to be between 3 and 5 years old and we have been having a lot of fun.  In no time they were calling me papa or dada (which means uncle in Russian).  Unfortunately I am not able to show you any photos because the orphanage has a policy of no kids’ photos on the internet.  You can look at my baby hospital photos from Ukraine in previous blogs to get an idea.

In the last week or so it has been getting colder here.  These past few mornings when I look out at the mountains I see that the snow is now creeping lower and lower into the valley.  These concrete apartment buildings can get very cold especially at night and the majority of my winter clothes are in Ukraine.  But I’m doing okay.  I have a small electric heater which takes some of the chill off - even though we’ve had lots of power outages lately in my neighbourhood.  I also have some heavy blankets for sleeping but otherwise the gas stove is getting a lot of use – and not for cooking.  Well, everyone knows that I hate to cook any ways lol. 

I’ll be so glad when the city decides to start up the central heating plant so that I can have some better heat.  Of course, everyone knows how much I love lots of heat, especially my room mates last summer when I would not turn on the air conditioner at 40 degrees.  (And for some reason air conditioners set off all my allergies too.)  …But I’m digressing.  Any ways, many people here simply will not have the option of being able to pay for heat.  If all of the utilities are off then there is just no way to keep warm in these buildings.  With the high levels of poverty in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine it’s no wonder that there are so many deaths every winter.  It gives me a new insight on how cold it would have been when Luba, who I mentioned in my previous blog entry, got frostbite last winter in her apartment. 

When I was here last spring even then the director at the Kemin Senior’s Home was thinking ahead to this winter and had asked me if I could buy blankets for the residents.  I would love to help with this but I just don’t have the budget.  The home has a capacity of 45 people and I’m told that it would cost approximately $1000 to buy a blanket and a set of sheets for each one.  Are there 45 people out there somewhere that can each spare $22.50?

On the brighter side I have received a donation this week that I’m going to use to buy fruit for the kids at Orlovka Orphanage.  With budgets so tight at the orphanages the kids don’t get fruit very often and it’s a rare treat when they do.  Imagine - fruit - being a TREAT!!  And to think we in Canada can get cranky when we can’t get a chocolate bar or a coffee or whatever.  Stay tuned to the blog as I will have an update when I get it arranged. 

I also still have the other items on my wish list as I mentioned in my previous blog entry.  I’d like to be able to also buy fruit for Red River Orphanage and the Iskra disabled men’s home.  I would also love to take the kids at Orlovka on an outing of some kind, maybe to a movie and a meal or something.  I would like to chip in to help buy coal for needy families as well.

If anyone would like to help me out with any of these things you can click the donations link for LinK 127 at the right side of this blog to donate on line or click the Ways to Donate tab at the top of the page for other options.  Please remember to include a note with my name on it and specify what you would like your gift to be directed towards.  Donations from Canada are tax deductible and every dollar helps.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support and thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

This photo was taken on September 30th

This was taken yesterday (October 20th).  Not only is there snow on the foothills now but if you look close on the left you'll see that it is coming down into the valley.

This is Luba last spring when she was still recovering (physically) from her frostbite.

Some of the residents of Kemin Senior's Home on October 1st.  Notice that they were wearing heavy clothes then.

Some of the kids of Orlovka Orphanage

Thankfulness

This past week I was able to get around and get some updates on some of the goings on here.  Monday was Senior’s Day and I went with the Lamb International folks and the girls from the Dayspring Home to Kemin Senior’s home for a celebration.  The girls presented the senior’s with gift bags and gave a concert which was much appreciated by the residents.  I also got to check up on Luba to see how she is doing.

I don’t think I ever told you about Luba.  Last winter in Europe and here in Kyrgyzstan there was record breaking cold temperatures where many people died.  Luba was living in an apartment but had no money and her utilities were cut off.  During the cold snap she got frostbite in both of her feet which resulted in her losing most of her right foot and all of her left.  She cannot be fitted for prosthetics because what is left of her feet and legs are of 2 different lengths.  She has been given a wheelchair courtesy of a donation to Lepta Plus and Luba is doing well.

It was great to see Dasha again as well.  If you remember she is the girl who was born with 2 holes in her heart which also affected her other organs and her general health.  We sponsored her surgery through Operation Can be Done which took place in May and she is doing amazingly well.  She looks so much healthier and happier and she now has the energy of any 9 year old.  She still has to take it easy for a couple more months and she is very anxious to do things like the other kids.  Before, she was not allowed to go to school on doctor’s orders.  Over the summer the Lamb International folks sponsored some tutoring to help her catch up and now Dasha is going to a regular school and is doing well.  Her life has been dramatically transformed.  After seeing her before her operation and seeing her now I am truly amazed at the difference in her.

I was also able to get in and see Almaz this week.  He is the baby that was found in April abandoned at a bus stop likely because of his 2 club feet.  We sponsored his surgery also, which took place in mid August.  His right leg is now straight and his left leg is 80%.  He’ll be going in to get his casts changed and for a check up in another week.  Doctors will determine then if they can do a second surgery on the left leg.  Almaz has adjusted well to living at the orphanage and now shows the energy of any toddler.  (I can’t show you a photo of him as the orphanage has a policy of the kids’ photos on the internet.) 

Otherwise I’m still trying to figure out what activities I can sponsor while I’m here.  I would like to take the kids from Orlovka Orphanage on an outing or perhaps sponsor some fruit, which is a big luxury or a treat of some kind for them and perhaps some for Red River Orphanage and the Iskra disabled men’s home.  (The Iskra men’s home is the Kyrgyzstan version of Boorie Ooglie in Ukraine that I have mentioned in previous blogs.)  It would also be great to help buy blankets and coal as winter is very close and it’s already cold here at night.

If anyone would like to help me out with this wish list you can click the donation button for LinK 127 on the right side of this blog or click the Ways to Donate tab at the top of the page for other options.  Please remember to include a note with my name and specify what you would like your gift to be directed towards.  Donations from Canada are tax deductible and every dollar helps.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support and thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Luba and I

Dasha in her school uniform

There's snow on the foothills now.  Winter is getting closer.  This is the view from my apartment on a clear day.