Nowraz, what is that???

If you are familiar with Kazakhstan you may know what Nowraz is, if not let me give you a bit of Kazakh culture.

Now-raz (pronounced now - raz only you must roll the "r" as you say the second syllable) is the the historical Kazakh New Year as they used to celebrate the new year when spring arrived. It actually makes sense as winter is cold and a bit lifeless. Spring brings flowers, buds on trees and everything begins a new.

It's a big deal here with a long weekend and celebrations all over Kazakhstan. An American delegation was here so they got to see "Spring" arrive. We took 4 of the local orphans to Asa, a near by town outside of Taraz. There were Yurt's set up for entertaining guest and eating lots of Kazakh national foods. Yurt's are portable homes as Kazakhs were a nomadic people in earlier times.

The first picture is of Walter, one of the American delegates and the 4 orphans we had with us that day. If you look carefully you can see a couple Yurt's set up in the background. The second picture was taken at the local Taraz square where there was a live performance. It's really a festive time and we took part in many celebrations around town and at the orphanages.

It's also a time where communities get together and start cleaning up all around them. Any trash laying around is gathered, and most everything gets a fresh coat of paint. Even the trees! Actually they paint the lower 2 feet of tree trunks. It was believed that this paint kept bugs from killing the trees but now it is just a part of tradition. Weather or not it actually helps the trees I can't say for sure but trees that do not get painted grow as well as those that do.

I hope you have a beautiful spring. So far ours is turning out quite well and we've gotten a fair amount of rain already.

Enjoy your New Year!

Nowrez at Ulan

Since you already know a little about Nowraz, let me also share this story with you. Due to some special givers back home we were able to celebrate Nowraz in a special way at the Ulan orphanage.

Since Nowraz means "Spring" and the weather is getting nice we knew the children would soon be spending hours outside playing sports. Unfortunately most of the sport balls they have are well past optimum playing usage and are few to pass around.

So with 15 groups of children there we decided to get them all a Soccer ball, Basketball and a Volley ball. It will bring hours of enjoyment for boys and girls alike. Girls especially love Volley ball, and the boys Basketball but both boys and girls love Soccer.

While delivering the new balls and giving traditional Nowraz wishes we also took many pictures. While on our way out there were children already outside breaking in the new balls! Thanks so much for your caring and support for these children.

May there be many blessings to you and your families back home in the US. And when you go outside to play think of us here in Kazakhstan getting much enjoyment and use out of the new balls provided by loving Americans!