SAVVA 2009

Savva English Camp 2009 went especially smooth this summer. With many returning delegates and a growing relationship with children, Savva Administration and Staff it just seems to get better with each passing year.

A super time was had by all. English camp consist of a time of teaching basic English in the campus school rooms, afternoon activities including sports and hair and finger nail painting for the gals. Savva provides good food for the children plus 2 snack times which usually includes a piece of fruit and maybe cookies between main meals. The afternoon is filled with free time where we can play outside or inside activities. After dinner the American Delegation prepared a special evening activity for each night.


One was Carnival night where there were 10 different stations/games for children to play. Small gifts and lots of fun were had by all. Sunday we all took a nice walk to the Savva park where we played outside games, balls, Frisbee, cards etc and had a tasty ice cream before the warm summer walk back.

Weather wise it was the nicest camp I've seen in my 6 years here. Not too hot in the afternoons and cool evenings.

We also had a water war one afternoon, started by yours truly. A few hand fulls of water balloons and water bottles. Getting soaked is refreshing as well as fun. Nothing like an all out water war at least once during camp.

It's amazing just how deep relationships are developing between Savva and the Americans with the help of translators. It was a teary good bye, but fortunately, for me, I get to visit quite often year round! The Interlink staff will only see them one more time during the summer as they all go away to camp for 2 months but will resume monthly Birthday celebrations in September.

Only thing missing was you!
Thanks for all your encouragement, help and support.
Smiles, Ken

Men's Day and Mufflers!

So what does Men's Day and Mufflers have in common??? Well, me! We are in the midst of Men's Day celebrations (May 8th) and I recently had my Rav4 muffler reconditioned.

1st Men's Day. As you may have heard we celebrate Men's Day here. (We celebrated Women's Day last month) The nice thing about Men's Day and Women's Day is all men and all women are celebrated not only those who have children. Coming from a singles point of view this seems to be better all around. Of course I never had children so perhaps you parents out there are saying, "If he only knew"!

Just the same this is how we do it in this part of the world. This year we celebrated by getting sunglasses for all the boys we sponsor. The guys loved this timely gift and wear them, even inside. The girls are a bit jealous even though they got a nice gift bag on their day filled with hair dressing accessories.

Thanks to all of you back home for supporting us and allowing us to bring a little bit of happiness to the children here. They love the gifts but also love knowing there are Americans who love them too.



And here's my muffler. Why show you this? Well, back home if there is muffler trouble it is simply replaced. Here labor is cheap and the cost of fixing a muffler is well, worth while. If you notice there is a weld bead all along the top of the muffler. They actually removed the muffler, cut the top off, removed a rusted pipe inside, welded in a new piece and then welded on a new pipe that takes the exhaust out. All for the cost of about $20. Ha! I also had my drivers side door handle fixed. All for the astonishing cost of $3.50.



I hope this note finds everyone well. Feel free to drop me a line on my home e-mail account. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated!
Smiles,
Ken

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!

OUCH! Again

We've been so busy I didn't have time to duck my head! Well, maybe I'm making excuses, but I'm sticking to it.

We've had a Kids Connection Delegation in town and making sure they touch base with as many of the orphans we work with, as possible. So it has been a lot of running around. More on that in a later update.

Saturday the American team and Delegation went on a picnic to the mountains. A favorite activity to do here and since Spring has arrived it is our first Mountain picnic this year.

In preparation we were pulling together supplies. A must is having a large ground cover (outside tarp) and some camping cushions for us to sit on. Unfortunately the office was temporarily without electricity. (Not uncommon here) and the back storage area has no windows so all I had was a flash light. (picture well lit with camera flash) I hastily grabbed the ground cover and mats and was darting out to put them in the car. Even though I am not a tall guy by normal standards I know I need to duck a bit when exiting. But with the lights out it didn't register with me how low the open way was. And, as you can see, it is solid concrete.

I hit the concrete so hard I immediately fell to the ground. Knowing exactly what I did I knew a headache would soon be upon me as well as the initial pain. I went to my desk to get some Excedrin and in the process just touched the top of my head. It felt a little warm so I knew there was some blood. But before I knew it I had blood running down my face, so I looked for my co-worker Beth to give me some aid. Before I found her, a delegate Marion, was there to help stop the bleeding.

Thanks to all for their help and first aid. We quickly stopped the bleeding and finished packing to go on our picnic. All had a nice time and my head pain did not keep me from enjoying a nice roasted chicken lunch and plenty of snacks.

All in all it was a very nice trip with the gang and a nice rest from an otherwise very busy week!

4 Corners

I know it has been a while. Pardon my slackness in creating a new blog. Thanks for joining in with me to see what life is like for the orphan children here in Kazakhstan. As you may already know, we host a birthday party, once a month, for each orphanage we have the blessing to work with.

Here, at the Ulan orphanage in Taraz, all the children speak Kazakh and we enjoy spending time with the children there. Also we make weekly visits to the children, deliver letters from American sponsors and play games with the children. Often we bring craft projects that are age appropriate.

This photo was taken during our birthday celebration game time. One game that is a favorite of the children is 4 Corners. One child, in the middle, is blindfolded and counts to 10. We are standing on a large area square floor and each corner has a number 1-4. As the child counts all the other children quietly walk to one of those corners. When the counter is done he/she points to a corner. Any child in that corner is out. This continues until there is one child left who then receives a small gift from out surprise box.

A good time is had by all and we are fortunate to share God's love in small but practical ways. And it is friends and sponsors back home who help make all this happen.

Thanks you one and all and may this year be a super year for all our children.

Savva Orphanage Dec. B-Day party

Since we can't host a special Birthday party for each child, we have birthday parties for Savva, Ulan and Saramoldaeva orphanages once a month, celebrating birthdays for all children, in the given month.

In December, we went to the Savva orphanage, and celebrated birthdays for about 14 children.
We have cakes, snacks, candy and chips with soft drinks. We play games like Musical Chairs, 4 Corners and Hot Potato. We also have a time to give out gifts which are a package of school supplies. It's a lot of fun for the children and we really enjoy our time with them there.

We also take photos throughout the event and next month give out little photo albums for all the birthday children. They especially love letters and pictures.
How many of you get to have fun celebrating birthdays every month! We love doing that here. Wish you could join us.

Ulan Orphanage New Year Gift Delivery!

Here, in Kazakhstan, New Years is the BIGGEST holiday of the year. So we decided to do something very special for the children at the Ulan orphanage. With a generous donation from back home we took the children shopping about a month ago, as I shared in an earlier blog, then took the gifts to the office to wrap and give for New Years! This was the day of giving those gifts back to the children.
It was such a joy to be a blessing to these children who have so much less than we do. In the first photo I am at a table helping the children to open and assemble their gifts. Their faces were filled with happiness.

Here, in the second photo, I am standing with my sponsored child Dina, after giving her a volley ball. She loves sports and since I am here it is easy for me to give her a personal gift.
We had so many children to visit and give gifts to that the other Interlink staff all came to help out. Thanks to all of you back home for helping to make this possible, and a special thanks to the family who donated these funds so the children could buy something special.

Happy Birthday to Him!

It was a very nice Christmas Day and the whole Christmas season has been very good. This year was one of those rare times when we got snow on Christmas Day! We got a couple inches on top of the 3-4 inches we had already.


On Christmas Day Jason, Sara and Heather came over for a day long celebration. We started off with a delicious egg/sausage casserole and fresh baked pumpkin bread for brunch! Yum. Then we spent time lighting the Advent wreath and shared some appropriate readings. After that we opened gifts from back home. (Thanks to all who sent things ahead of time so we could have then on the 25th!) After gifts we watched "The Nativity", a very good movie. Then we started cooking our ham and potato dinner. Very tasty! After dinner we watched our new DVD "Santa Clause 3". Then we had a special time to sing Happy Birthday with lighted cake for the reason for the season!

The gang hung around long enough for a partial game of canasta and there were some phone calls home. All in all, it was a very pleasant Christmas Day celebration for the American team here.

Ember just returned home in hopes of returning full time. She gave us these pictures for Christmas before she left. They are all very nice. Ember is very talented with all kinds of art and photography.
All for now. I trust you and yours had a Very Merry Christmas!

Tis The Season

I hope you all are looking as forward to this Christmas season as I am. We have already begun to celebrate as the American staff here helped me host the seasons 1st Christmas party. A great time was had by all and 10 of my regular folks came. We decorated this tree, decorated and baked Christmas cookies, Had home made pizza and watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".


Later the American staff also had another picture taken by our tree. In Kazakhstan they don't celebrate Christmas, New Years is the BIG holiday here. So we are gearing up for that by spending time at the local orphanages and helping to purchase gifts for all the children with the help of folks back home. We have also purchased a new sound system for the Savva Orphanage in Merke. Music is a big part of Kazakh life as every party heavily features dancing. We were also invited to a dance and talent competition at the Saramoldaeva orphanage.

I trust you and yours will enjoy celebrating Christmas this year. Spend quality family time and join some activity to support the Christmas spirit in your community! God bless each and every one of you and thanks for remembering me while away this year.

Thanksgiving X2

One advantage of living in Kazakhstan is that we can celebrate things/events a number of times! This year, for Thanksgiving, the American staff took off and spent the entire day preparing for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. From turkey, to stuffing, to mashed potatoes and corn, to pie(s) Pumpkin. pecan and apple. You may wonder why it took all day to prepare dinner for 4 people, well the truth is we prepared for more than a dozen people! We first had a traditional dinner on the 27th and then prepared enough for the same meal(for a luncheon) for the entire Interlink staff on the 28th!

We also had a time for everyone to give thanks for the things they are grateful for in their lives this past year. We also have a white table cloth where everyone can write a Thanksgiving quote for a keepsake. It's nice to read what folks have given thanks for in previous years.

So we celebrated Thanksgiving twice! The most interesting part was pickling out live Turkeys at the local bazaar and taking them to a house where a lady, for a very reasonable sum, killed, plucked and gutted the three turkeys. The purchasing and cleaning of all three was about $75.

So what are you most thankful for this past year? I hope and trust you are thankful for a great deal. Thanks for taking time to view my blog. Feel free to leave a comment and drop me a line and let me know what is new in your part of the world.

Time to Grow (2004-2008)

One of the joys of working here in Kazakhstan is the Interlink Kids Connection sponsorship program started a couple years ago. It's a typical sponsorship program where an American family back home can connect with one of the children in our area orphanages. Letters and photos are exchanged while relationships are developed. The $200 a year, per child, enables Interlink to help these children in many practical ways. The Savva Orphanage in Merke was in need of a new water tower last year. Such expenses are not a part of normal funding. The government provides staffing, food, clothes and other necessities. There are no funds for large maintenance type of repairs. Interlink was able to provide all the needed funds for that new water tower. Kids Connection also helps out with celebrating B-days and other special holidays for the children. We've , in the past, provided funds for a sound system, material for draperies and performance costumes etc.

The advantage of being a local part of the staff is that I can sponsor a child and also visit that child on a regular basis. Some, join with a delegation coming here and can visit their child. What a special event that is. So Interlink is in the unique position to help these children and also have a net work available for sponsors to come and visit their child. But I can see Dina on a weekly basis, while also exchanging pictures and letters. I'm also learning Kazakh so I can chat with her in person. Included are two photos. One of Dina when I met her in 2004 when she was 8 or 9 years old. The second photo was taken recently and she is now 13. It's a joy to see these children grow and I'm delighted to be a regular part of their lives.

Ulan Carnival 2008!

Who says work is not fun??? We put on a mini-Carnival for the children at the Ulan Orphanage, Labor Day weekend. Due to a shortage in staffing we were limited to 6 stations. We had a Plinko stand, Picture board with a strong man and woman on a trapeze for the children to put their faces in, Ladder toss, Clown Bean Bag toss, Ring toss over wooden milk bottles and the all popular Gorilla sponge toss with yours truly as the target.


As you can see these children through the soaked sponges with great determination. Fortunately for me most of them missed though given 3 chances. Fortunately for them, some of them succeeded. All in all we had a very nice time. The weather is still nice and this was the weekend before they started back to school. Prizes and candy were awarded. The children also received a Camp "T" shirt and a carry bag (made by a local Kazakh woman) donated by an American Delegation from Muncie, Indiana.

The children have two dormitories. One for younger children and the other for the older pre-teens and teens. The teen building is undergoing renovations so all the children are cramped into one dormitory for the next few weeks or until the remodeling is complete.

Sorry you could not be a part of all the fun, but your continued support from back home makes all this possible.

Having FUN! For the children

This is the first time I volunteered to be the target of a sponge toss event. An American delegate (Vicki) painted the gorilla with too-too. I made the frame and was more than willing to be the target. You may say, so that is no big deal. They are only sponges after all. But these sponges can hold some amount of water and some of the children are strapping young men with quite an arm.

This photo was taken last June at the Savva English Camp carnival night but this weekend I'll assume the post again for the Ulan orphanage carnival we've prepared. Should be fun. With the help of the team here and local translators we'll set-up a half dozen stands for the amusement of the children.

So as the summer closes and the new school year begins we want to give the children a last hurrah. Don't you wish you could be here to toss a few sponges??? Go ahead, you probably throw like a girl! And if you are a girl then I would still tease you for throwing like one!

Well, off to prepare for the Ulan Summer ending Carnival.
Wish you were here
Ken

Monster Burgers

Just in case you were wondering how the food is over here, take a gander at my latest creation! I took nearly 2 lbs of lean ground beef and made 5 "Monster Burgers". Believe me, they are as tasty as they look.

Of course this is not the typical meal here. For the most part I take in mostly national foods and enjoy them very much. Kazakhstan is a real "meat and potato" kind of people. It is said here that Wolves are the one animal on the planet that eats the most meat. And Kazakhs are 2ND!

Veggie lovers stay home. JUST KIDDING! Come one and all. Especially veggie lovers. More meat for me.

Anyway, having said all that we all really love the national dishes here, but like a bit of old fashioned American style burgers and pizza! National foods include Bisparmak which is a hand made flat noodle dish with potatoes and of course meat. Kordak is another meat and potato dish usually made after a fresh slaughter of a sheep. The Usbec main dish is Plov. A rice and meat dish, while the Russian favorite is Borsh which is a cabbage, potato and meat soup. All very tasty and I'm sure you'd like them, very much, as well.

In any case, don't worry about us loosing weight over here. We love our work, we love the people and we love the food.

And Still Working!

I wonder, how many of you out there, can give your boss a bloody nose and still keep your job??? As it happened, my friend, and acting Company Director, were engaged in a water war. Not our first mind you (Remembering the past 2 4th of July gatherings). I was backing up as she charged. A co-worker (Kiikzhan) stopped me from behind. Beth, not knowing this, was in full attack mode. I bent down to give a good splash but her nose met up with my shoulder. OOOOOuch! Well, I didn't say ouch, but Beth sure was feeling a little pain.



In the third picture I was loaded up for bear with a water gun prepared for more battle. This was Interlink's 1st Annual Staff Summer picnic.

All had a good time. Some of the guys prepared sashleek (kind of like shish ke-bab) while others prepared salads, bread and drinks. We played many games, got really, really wet, and ate some more! We already look forward to next summers 2nd Annual Staff Summer picnic!

OUCH!

I think the last time I needed stitches I was 4 or 5 years old. I was running through the house, fell, and hit my forehead on the corner of a wooden table. I can't even remember how many stitches I got then.

This time things are a little more clear! We had an American delegation here working with Youth Impact. This is the group of teens who have graduated from local orphanages and are in a job training program. Some are seeking further education. In any case we all went to a local riverside for a picnic. The river, or large stream was only knee high so a number of us were wading in the water playing with a volley ball.

The river bed is loaded with rocks and at one point I felt myself step on (what I thought was) a sharp rock. Not thinking much of it I kept playing. About 20 minutes later I got out to find a sizable, deep cut, on the bottom of my foot. Hello! Instead of a rock it must have been a broken piece of glass. Actually it did not hurt, all that much, until I started to squirt some water in the cut to clear out the dirt that was inside. Fortunately there was among us, a licensed RN. When we got back to the office, Sara, the RN, went to work on me. Fortunately we also had a supply of medical equipment on hand.

It wasn't perfect. The Novocaine and stitching material we had is really for dental work, but here you have to go with what you've got.

The stitching was a breeze! However, and that is a "BIG HOWEVER", the Novocaine shots were excruciating. If you have any doubt ask Sara Coggins, my co-worker, who was holding my foot down for the shots. I think her ears are still ringing.

Funny thing is, I have water slippers for just this kind of activity. Guess I won't forget them next time. Anyway, all had a great time at the picnic and the Americans went back home. Thanks Sara for the art work.
In Him,
Ken

The Old and the New!

I just completed one small project here. The old ladder at the house I am living in has been repaired many times over the years. Here in Kazakhstan if something breaks they just add on another piece of wood to keep it together. The old ladder is smaller and yet, with all the added wood, is heavier than the new ladder which is an extended 3 feet. I also used bolts to secure the steps while cutting out notches for the steps to fit into. I've yet to varnish the new ladder, which it will need to keep protected from the coming winter.

Now I can gain access to the garage roof (pictured with ladders) and the grape vine lattice. As the vines grow they need to be laced in the metal framed lattice which supports the grapes and also turns the grape vines into an awning providing much needed shade for my car in the dog days of summer. As you can see in the second picture the vines are in much need of attention. I'll use the new ladder to redirect the vines on the lattice.

Hope your house projects are going well.
Keep me posted on your end.
All for now
Ken

You Decide - 2008

In keeping with the political season I thought I'd let my blog viewers decide what new look I should have this coming winter. As some of you know it can take a while to grow a deent beard so I need to know now what look suites me best, in your humble opinion, of course.

So please take your time and look at these three pictures. Let me know if you like the "Full Beard" look. (bottom left) While it makes me look older, it also gives me some character - don't you think? A full beard also helps keep the cold Kazakh winter wind from scorching my face.

The second look - the "Goatee" (top right) which we all know only looks good on certain men. I've had one in the past and some hated it and some liked it. But in this election year You Decide 2008, I want your opinion.

Thirdly - In the top left photo, I have the plain "Mustache" but with a little extra. Giving that sorta Oriental spin. Though I'm not in the orient I am in Central Asia, and this is as close as you get. So now that you've looked at all three you can make your first vote, in this election cycle, a vote that will determine my look for winter 2008! I'll also accept any and all commentary.

Sorry if the pictures are not clear enough, I have only 5 days of facial hair to work with.

Just keeping you involved.
Hope all is well in your part of the world.
Mayny blessings,
Ken

Just Hanging Around

I went to the Internationsl airport in Almaty to help the Savva Delegation get on their way home. After they left I met up with friends of mine, Dave Knauss and his family, to enjoy the sights. As we went to the park there was a man outside with this large Python snake so some of us had our picture taken with it.

He was quite large and really, pretty heavy.

The Savva Orphanage Delegation had a great time here and the children absolutely loved having them visit, teach English, play games, celebrate parites, play sports and much, much more. Later I'll be posting several pictures and go into more detail about our time there.

Have a great 4th weekend.
I will be celebrating with American friends and some folks from work.
All for now
Ken