Kyrgyzstan Week 1

Well I finally had a chance to sit down and write this entry.  I arrived in Bishkek 3 AM on Sunday morning (March 25^th) and have not stopped since I got here.  For those unfamiliar with Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is about the size of Massachusetts with a population of between 5 and 6 million people.  A little over one million are in Bishkek which is the capital city.  I’ll be living in Tokmok which is around 60 KM from Bishkek, about the same distance from Halifax to Truro.  My friend Sergey Bajenov and his kids met me at the airport and brought me home to Tokmok where I have been incredibly blessed with another nice apartment – aside from the typical poorly designed and aging Soviet plumbing and heating systems.  After getting to the apartment for about 4 hours sleep and a shower it was off to the club for weekly meeting. 

I have been tagging along with Sergey and helping out wherever I can.  He and Anya are very busy people with their work here as well as with their 2 boys, Vladik and Artur, and their 4 adopted children Eye-ziz, Koomunshai, Allenbek and Aisaloo.  (I have no idea how to spell their names but this is how they sound.)  The kids are on break from school this week which is the same as March Break in Canada.  Sergey and Anya’s kids are an amazing and well rounded bunch of kids and the nicest I have met anywhere. 

Since I got here we have made the rounds to the Bazaar for shopping, stopped in on the mother of a friend in Ukraine to deliver a parcel from him.  We sorted, packed and delivered donations to the baby hospital and Red River Orphanage, visited Orlovka Orphanage where an actor friend of Anya’s put on a workshop for International Theatre Day and we stopped in to see Ascel who I met in 2007 on my first trip here.

Ascel and her husband Talent now run a group home called Dayspring which is a (very successful) pilot project for an alternative to orphanages in Kyrgyzstan.  They can accommodate up to 10 children giving them a family environment to grow up in.  It’s kind of like a large foster home.  Currently a little girl living there is waiting for heart surgery which is being sponsored through our programme Operations CAN be Done.  (More on that in the future.)

It is so nice being here renewing old friendships and making new friends.  It’s also nice driving everywhere with the views of the most spectacular mountains anywhere (and yes I have driven through the Rockies – as nice as they are they just don’t compare for beauty).  I don’t know what it is but seeing those mountains is very comforting.  I am going to try and make every minute count for the next 3 months until I return to Ukraine. 

So stay tuned for my updates.  I don’t know how frequent they will be as there are periodic internet “issues” with blog sites not working and a team is arriving soon from Canada when the busyness will increase. 

Thank you for your kind thoughts, your support and for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

One of the views from may apartment.  The mountains here are actually more spectacular than this.

Sergey delivering a donation to the baby hospital.

Donations for Red River Orphanage

The Next Leg of My Adventure

Well it’s been a very busy couple of weeks.  We played host to a team from Port Colborne, Ontario as well as surprise house guest.  All of this was tied in with Women’s Day celebrations all week, celebrating March birthdays at Sunshine Orphanage, my report writing for Operations CAN be Done and another flood in my kitchen.   

This time the kitchen drain backed up and went all over the floor (yuk).  I’m bailing the sink as fast as I can with one hand while dialling for help with the other.  And once again our translator, her husband, her mother and her plumber father-in-law arrived within the hour.  Then the house guests come home to do their own thing (getting in the way).  Then the city had to be called to come snake the drains (waiting game).  And somehow in all of the confusion I see my door open and the downstairs neighbour is pushing her cat into my apartment.  So now we’re chasing this cat through the apartment as if we didn’t already have enough going on.  I think it was a stunt for the nosey neighbour to get into the apartment and see what was happening.  It was not a good night. 

This week I’ve been busy again tying things up here in Krivoy Rog before I leave for Kyrgyzstan tomorrow night (March 23^rd).  I take the night train to Kyiv then to the airport on Saturday morning for my flight to Istanbul and then on to Bishkek.  I’ll be living in Tokmok for 3 months and then back to Ukraine in June. 

It’s still a bit surreal to me that this is finally happening.  It’s taken since July 2007 to get this far.  If you had asked me then if I thought I would be at this point now I would have said a big no with all that I had to overcome and had to deal with at the time.  (See my previous blog entries.)  It’s been a long road but after many, many miracles – there’s just no other word for it - all of the logistics are still falling into place miraculously.  It’ll all probably sink in somewhere between Istanbul and Bishkek…lol.  I am so looking forward to seeing friends again and meeting friends in person that I have only communicated with on line so far.  Yet on the other hand I am going to miss my Krivoy Rog family.  (Strangely, I don’t miss Canada yet - is that wrong?) 

So the next leg of my adventure is beginning.  I’ll keep posting blog entries as I am able so stay tuned.  I ask for your continued prayers and support and as I have said before, thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

The kids at Dome Invalid put on a musical play for Women's Day.  It was very well done.  Just don't ask me the storyline...my Russian is STILL pathetic.

Passing out flowers to the Sunshine Orphanage directors for Women's Day.

The traditional Ukrainian bread welcome for the Port Colborne team.

Making a presentation to Ed Dickson for his birthday.

The March birthday kids.

Women’s Day March 2012

March 8th is Women’s Day in Ukraine and many other countries.  It is very similar to Mother’s Day in Canada except that ALL women are honoured, not just mothers and grandmothers.  It’s a very big deal here.  March 8th is also our friend Ed Dickson’s ??th birthday.  Happy Birthday Ed!!

 This past weekend we celebrated a little early by honouring the women on our team here in Krivoy Rog, which was provided for by Ed.  It was really nice to give these wonderful ladies a special night out.  In my last blog entry I mentioned how amazing the people on the ground here really are.  After having seen some of these ladies in action, believe me they more than deserved a night to sit down and enjoy themselves.  We went to a Japanese restaurant for sushi…yes, I actually ate sushi.  But I’m still dying for a Papa Burger with cheese, onion rings, a frosty root beer…Oh…sorry…I digress.   The ladies truly enjoyed themselves and wanted to make sure that Ed got a big “thank you.”

Thank you 

Ed!!! 

To me, there is nothing more honourable than (any) woman who has what I call a mother’s heart.  This is the kind of woman who asks where your hat and your gloves are when it’s cold or whether or not you’re getting enough to eat; the kind of woman who fusses over you for everything and makes sure you have a ride home.  After my Mom died in 1998 until I came to Ukraine I hadn’t realized how much I missed hearing that.  (Although I did hear it over the years – thanks Maxine, Sue, Miriam and all my many “church Moms.”)   Here in Ukraine it seems EVERY woman I have met is like that to me, almost a total stranger to them, and I have mentioned some of them in previous blog entries.  I now have many mothers here and as I said to them it shows how much they really do care for others. 

So to all ladies everywhere, thank you for all that you do and for all that you are - may you be truly and richly blessed.  Happy Women’s Day!!

Thank you all for your continued prayers, your support and for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

The Needs Here Are Many

Well the last two weeks have been busier here.  The temperature has also finally gone up and we are actually slightly above the freezing mark today.  The only thing is that the warmer temperatures bring more snow, but the snowstorms I’ve seen here so far are like what I call the picture postcard kind of storm.  It’s fun to see people building snowmen, or should I say many parents building snowmen for their kids. 

Last week I tagged along with our doctor from Kyiv on some consultation visits.  This is where he assesses who may benefit from surgery.  After the kids are assessed they go to Kyiv for further assessment to determine if surgery is beneficial.  It was certainly amazing to see the “after picture” of one girl who has so far had four surgeries to straighten her legs.  Before her surgeries she was not able to stand without support.  Now she’s walking around normally even though she has braces on her legs.  (I didn’t even realize she had braces on until she took off her socks.)  The doctor told me that not only is she walking around but that she has much more self confidence now.  She looks so happy and has one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  In fact, since the surgeries she has taken up swimming.  She recently won a local competition and is moving on to a national competition for the handicapped.  I won’t be at all surprised to see her represent Ukraine in a future Paralympics.  She already has that winner’s smile. 

I also recently had an opportunity to meet some more amazing people who are involved in various different programmes here in Krivoy Rog.  There’s Olya who has a heart for the mentally challenged.  I’ll be tagging along with her tomorrow to Dome Invalid (the invalid home for kids) to see her in action.  There is also Natasha who has a heart for the homeless.  She wants to start some kind of programme but just doesn’t know where to begin.  The recent record cold snap here has made a lot of people aware of how unprepared Ukraine is for situations like this when they happen.  (Most of the deaths in Europe were here in Ukraine.)  We were able to bat around some ideas but the trouble is that it would take a minimum of $3000 per month to do something like a soup kitchen and there is just no budget here for that.  $3000 per month is a lot by Canadian standards let alone in the Ukrainian economy.  All prayers, ideas to help the homeless, etc. would be greatly appreciated for this.  It is a HUGE need here.

These last two weeks have really made me realize just how many, as well as how great and varied the needs are here.  It also made me realize even more of how amazing the people on the ground here really are.  They do so much with a little.  I can only imagine how much more can be done with more “tools” and resources.  If anyone feels led to help us at LINK127 with our various programmes you can click the donation link at the right side of this blog to donate on line.  If you wish to donate but want to send a cheque, just click the link and then on the next page click the tab that says “details and Contact info” and there is a mailing address there.  You can also get more information about LINK127 by going to the other link at the side of the blog (www.link127.org). 

Thank you all for your continued prayers, your support and for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

Some more Saturday Programme fun

Some of the amazing people on the ground here (and me)

Not Much Excitement

Well there hasn’t been a whole lot going on this week.  I finally managed to finish off the cabbage rolls and I still have one bowl of borscht left in the freezer.

Ukraine is having a record cold winter and I haven’t strayed far.  The temperatures have been hovering from minus 15 down to minus 35.  (To translate for those who haven’t caught up with the rest of the world yet, that’s 5 down to minus 31 Fahrenheit.)   The cold has been quite a concern here as many people have died because of it.  As of February 5^th there were 131 deaths in Ukraine alone and many more throughout Europe.  Most of those who died were homeless people who died of exposure while others died in their homes, likely because they couldn’t afford to heat them.  And now in yesterday’s news someone in the government is saying the deaths are alcohol related.  As far as I’m concerned that’s a poor attempt to deflect blame for overlooking the homeless and impoverished to begin with.  But I guess it’s impolite for me to talk about someone else’s government.  They also closed schools last week in Kyiv because of the cold and now they’re closing them again from February 10^th to 13^th.  (This is kind of like us having a storm day in Canada.)

Other than the cold I have been continuing with my Russian lessons.  I’m so blessed to have a VERY patient teacher.  However, as I type this blog entry I should be studying for a test tomorrow.  I am slowly getting better though.  I was able to pick out more words in last Sunday’s sermon and I was able to figure out the scripture.  My teacher tells me that my pronunciation is perfect; apparently a lot of North Americans have trouble with the rolling of the R’s thing.  So I guess it will all come with time.

I’ve also been helping at Sunshine Orphanage.  A couple of weeks ago we had a birthday party for those who had birthdays in January.  I will also be helping out Lena T. with her Saturday programme spending time with the younger kids.  It’ll be bittersweet for me to see Sunshine Orphanage closed for good by summer but there are other orphanages and disabled homes to go to.

As for my ongoing saga of my external hard drive that died, I got it back this week from the computer guy and I’m still sorting out the saved files.  He was able to save some photos but all of the videos are gone.  He was just able to save a few stills from some of them.  It’s a good thing I copied my family genealogy before I left Canada.  For those of you who got copies of documents, photos and videos from me over the last several years I would love to hear from you.

So I guess I’ll leave it here for now and (try to) get back to studying.  Till next time...Я люблю тебя!

Party for January birthdays

The Saturday Programme

The girls were asked to draw a picture of me and this is the result.  I look pretty good :)

A Huge Blessing

Normally I don’t do blog entries so close together but I thought this was too good to wait.  For those of you who might have been concerned about me getting enough to eat this is to show there’s no need to worry and to show how blessed beyond measure I am.

The mothers here in Ukraine also fuss over me getting enough to eat.  They are like grandmothers and mothers everywhere – they feed you until you just want to die.  When I was at a friend’s house last weekend for some home made borscht and perogies they said that they would gladly come to my house to cook for me.  They had also asked me what kinds of food I liked.  I didn’t really think anything of it but here people usually say what they mean and today Olena came to the apartment with a translator friend Lena T. and spent the entire afternoon making borscht and cabbage rolls, and she brought a cake.  (I also think this might be a match making effort by another mother Ira T. lol.)

We had a great afternoon of cooking & visiting.  Olena put us all to work and the translator also got a great cooking lesson.  I got off easy with just peeling some vegetables & chopping onions.  After everything was cooked we sat down to an amazing meal.  Then she said that she would gladly come to my place every Saturday to cook for me.  So now I’m just wondering what’s going to happen next weekend.  I just might end up weighing 300 pounds on this Ukrainian adventure.

So now for leftovers I have a 4 litre pot of amazing borscht and a huge pan full of cabbage rolls (and cake).  I also had no idea how labour intensive and time consuming it is to make cabbage rolls so I’ll never take for granted the size of this blessing.  Here are the pictures.  Till next time...Я люблю тебя!

Olena hard at work

The main ingredient to borscht.

Cabbage leaves waiting to be filled.

Making sure Lena is doing it right.

There's a LOT in this pan.

The cabbage rolls are covered in a (home made) tomato sauce, lemons, parsley, the left over cabbage & meat & then simmered until done.

Borscht

I didn't get a good picture of today's borscht but here's what last weekend's batch looked like.

Cake with sour cream & mandarin topping.  (It can be made with any fruit.)

A Month Already

Well I’ve been in Ukraine a month now & it has just flown by with all the fun.  In my last blog entry some of you expressed concern about the man who caused a scene at McDonald’s.  Not to worry, I don’t think he could do much damage as he was a senior & I can still move pretty fast.  Foreigners are usually well treated here.

I don’t have anything new to tell right now so in the spirit of fun I thought I’d do a list of the ten things I like most about Ukraine & the ten things I miss most from Canada.  Forgive me if most of these are food related.  What can I say?  I’m a guy. 

First the ten things I like most about Ukraine - in no particular order.

1. Lemon scented kleenex - it’s so much nicer than the mint scented kleenex.
2. Milka bars - If you’ve had a Dairy Milk that was made in England or in South Africa, that’s the only thing that comes remotely close.  And the funny thing is it's made by Kraft Foods yet it's not available in Canada.
3. Cherry juice - The box says it takes 600 cherries to make a litre of juice - it’s sooo worth it.
4. Most prices are way cheaper here & there’s no sales tax.  The mark-ups in North America are insane!!
5. Cities here are designed for PEOPLE, not cars - much more pedestrian friendly.  It’s much easier to get around & much easier to get the shopping done.
6. People here are much more social.  They speak to & are willing to help strangers.  (See my previous blog entry for an example.)  They are also much more patient when they realize you don't know their language.
7. Regular internet is much faster here - 100 megabits per second - my high speed in Canada was 54 mbps - & it’s much cheaper here too.
8. Pechena Kartoplya - this is a fast food chain that specializes in baked potatoes where you have a choice of toppings to choose from.  The garlic & cheese is my favourite.  (Kartoshka is the Russian word for potato)  www.kartoplya.com
9. The scenery here looks a LOT like Canada.  (See my August 23, 2011 blog entry.)
10. My cell phone bill is approximately $5.65 per month including internet & again, no tax.

Here are the ten things I miss most from Canada - again in no particular order.

1. Regular flavoured potato chips.  I did find Pringles Original - at $3.25 per can (imported pricing I guess).  Otherwise they just have flavoured chips here such as crab, shrimp, mushroom, baked ham, red pepper (the kind of red pepper you put in a salad) & bacon.  They also have sour cream & onion, ketchup as well as sour cream & dill but I only like regular.
2. Pam spray - they don’t have anything like it here.  (It’s a good thing I hate to cook any ways.)
3. Canned tuna - they do have what they call canned tuna here but since this is a family site I won’t describe the taste.
4. Habitant pea soup with ham - any canned soup actually.  They do have the dry packets the same as Canada but those are mainly salt - yuk.
5. A&W - I could just murder a Papa Burger with cheese & some onion rings right now - or a Mama Burger - or a Teen Burger & of course a frosty mug of root beer.
6. Cheddar cheese (old) - I just don’t like the cheese here.
7. Whole wheat bread - or any normal sized loaf.  The bread here does taste much better but they have such tiny little loaves.  It takes 4 slices of bread to make a normal sized sandwich & most bread here doesn’t brown in the toaster.
8. A normal sized washing machine.  I used to do one load per week and the cycle would take 25 minutes.  Here with these tiny little washers the same amount of clothes takes 3 loads & one cycle takes about an hour.  Where’s the energy efficiency & water conservation in that?!?
9. Not having a clothes dryer.  I have yet to see one anywhere here & I hate ironing.
10. Fish & chips - that one should speak for itself.

Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

There are other versions of Milka but these are my two favourites.

Yes, 1200 cherries were sacrificed to make this box of juice.

This is the usual size of bread.  This one actually turns brown in the toaster.

Staying Put

Well this past week has been an interesting one. On the last day of McJoyful we had an incident where a man who doesn’t like Americans thought I was one and caused a scene at McDonald’s. He was ushered out the door and I was told to stay put. He wouldn’t go away and they posted people at both doors of the restaurant to keep him out. Needless to say I felt pretty awkward at being the centre of that kind of attention but grateful that people were looking out for me.

Then one day I was home with absolutely nothing to do and was bored. This was magnified by the fact I don’t know Russian yet and can’t just turn on the TV or give most people a call. True to form the evil one tried to put me off by putting thoughts into my head about why am I here if I’m not doing anything. Within the hour Ed called wanting to set up meetings about getting me started on a project.

Then there was a leak in the kitchen and water was running on the floor. I have no tools here and with the language barrier didn’t know who to call and was a tiny bit panicked about what to do. I call Ed (who’s in Kyiv – a 6 hour drive away from Krivoy Rog) and within an hour one of our translators is here with her father-in-law who’s a plumber - crisis averted.

I go to Kyiv for the meetings and while there I was on my own for a bit & decided to do some chores. Let me tell you, getting money changed here can be really frustrating. The first bank I went to (which had their exchange rates posted on a sign at the entrance) said in English: “Not today, another department, no walk-ins.” I said, “This is a bank isn’t it?” but still no budging. The second bank wanted my passport and a photo copy wasn’t satisfactory. Back on the phone to Ed who puts me onto a place where everything went fine.

Then on the way home to Krivoy Rog Ed sends me to the train station with a friend of his who happens to be taking an earlier train. He showed me the ropes of the train station and then left while I had another hour and a half to wait for my train.

While I’m waiting there’s a bomb scare at the station and they are clearing everyone out. Of course with the language barrier I’m left standing there totally oblivious to what is going on. A guard speaks to me but when he sees I don’t know what he’s saying he kind of walks away. An older lady is there who also doesn’t speak English but I figure out that she’s asking me what train I’m on. I show her my ticket and she speaks to the guard which sounds like an argument. The guard comes back, speaks to me again and again starts to walk away. I’m back on the phone to Ed asking him to translate but the guard won’t take the phone. The lady grabs the phone and explains to Ed what’s going on and tells him she’ll show me the alternate route to go to the tracks. So off we go, I get my train (which left on time by the way) and another crisis is averted.

I’m not telling you all this to say that I’m frustrated and ready to come back to Canada. No Way! I’m staying put!!

I’ve noticed in Ukraine that there are a LOT of people who genuinely care for others. People here are much more social unlike the isolationism in North America where people need their own “space” and avoid strangers. The lady at the train station went out of her way to help a total stranger and didn’t let a language barrier stop her. I have mothers here in Krivoy Rog who worry if I have enough groceries in the house and make sure that anything I need I have. One called today, and of course with the language barrier it was a short conversation, but after we hung up I realized she was checking to see if I got back from Kyiv okay.

No matter what the evil one tries to do the Mighty one has angels in place already. I have met many of them. Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

Settling In

Well McJoyful Christmas is over for another year and I now have a moment to take a breath. This past two weeks has been a whirlwind with McJoyful serving over 2000 people as well as New Year’s, Christmas and now moving into a different apartment and the shopping and setting up that goes with it.

We had an AMAZING team visit from Pembroke who are on their way back home now and I sure have a new appreciation of the work that goes on from the other side when teams come to visit. The local team in Krivoy Rog are awesome and work very hard to make it so easy for visitors when they come. I’ll certainly never take for granted local hospitality when going anywhere again.

As I mentioned about shopping for the new apartment, I survived my first trip to the malls by myself pretty well. I managed to get there and back without getting lost and got almost everything I wanted or a good substitute. I’m still trying to get used to a different selection of products as well as not having other products available here. (Although it’s great being able to get cherry juice and Milka bars here.) I also still can’t believe how much cheaper and often better quality almost everything is compared to Canada.

I wish I could say my Russian is getting better but it’s actually more like I’m sharpening my skills at charades. So I guess I’ll have to invest in a language tutor – and maybe take a translator with me next time I go shopping. Other than that it’s just a matter of getting to know the city, settling into a routine and getting a game plan in place. Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

Happy New Year!

Well I finally had a chance to sit down and do this blog entry. I arrived in Kyiv on Boxing Day and spent a few days there before going to Krivoy Rog which will be my Ukraine home. I’ll be going to Kyrgyzstan probably in March for a few months as Ed wants to expand some of the work there. (More on that in the future.)

I went to Krivoy Rog with an amazing team from Pembroke who came over for McJoyful Christmas and since we arrived we have been going flat out being at McDonald’s every day and with New Year’s celebrations. It’s been great renewing friendships and being a part of this amazing event.

On New Year’s Eve we were at Sunshine Orphanage for a fireworks show that was better than the Canada Day fireworks in Halifax. Then we went to Church of Praise for an all night New Year’s party. What a fun time that was. I never heard of full contact musical chairs before.

Today after McJoyful at McDonald’s we took a load of Happy Meals to the home in Boorie Oglie which was a real treat for the residents. They loved having visitors as well as the treat. Boorie Oglie is a very emotional place for me as well as for Go Team Ukraine 2011 which will take too long to explain – you have to see it for yourself to get it.

Tomorrow we are back at McDonald’s again for some more groups coming for McJoyful Christmas. I’d like to wish everyone a great New Year. Я люблю тебя!

Independence Square Kyiv, Ukraine

The writing on the boxes is pronounced "Happy Meal"