A New Experience

My morning English club was able to participate in something brand new for them.  They went with me to do some activities with the 11 children I work with on a weekly basis.  They have a wide range of disabilities, from cleft palates to Cerebral Palsy.  Most of these children had never interacted individually with an individual with a disability.  We spent a couple weeks preparing as we looked at pictures of the children and baked cupcakes.

Last week we spent the morning with the children.  Since New Years is coming up and here they have New Years trees, we had a couple activities related to what we would call a Christmas tree in the States.  The children love having guests, although it does cause a change in routine which causes some of them to act out a bit.  We started off by allowing everyone to introduce themselves as we sat in a circle on the floor.  After introductions, each of the English club students paired off with one child and helped them color a Christmas Tree.

Then came the real fun.  We used construction paper, scissors, and glue to make Christmas trees of our own.  This was a bit of an adventure and I was thankful for the one-on-one interaction.  As I expected, none of the children had ever used scissors or glue.  As a result, our English club students worked with them to teach them how to hold the scissors.  The goal was to have each child do as much of the project as possible.  I was free to help each of the students figure out how to help each child along the way.  The most challenging ones for them included helping Baghdat (who has Cerebral Palsy) and Nurbol (who was born with no arms).  I gave some suggestions and helped out where needed, but they did a great job.

After our craft activity, we moved onto snack time.  Everyone enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes as well as some candy and cookies that were brought by the English club students.  Some of the students had also collected some used stuffed animals to give the children as well as some clothing.  It was fun to see them take the initiative to collect things on their own to bring.

As we drove back to the office, I asked the students what surprised them the most.  One of the answers they gave was that it surprised them how smart the children were.  Often times people assume that because someone has a physical disability they also have a mental disability.  If nothing else came of our visit, these youth now realize that this concept is a false stereotype.  They were touched by these children and will likely want to go back again with me.  I was proud of them for stepping up and interacting in a great way without showing the children their fear or uncertainty.  

Impacting our Community

In October I started two new English clubs.  Instead of just practicing English, I wanted us to focus on volunteering in our community.  We spent October getting to know each other and participating in some team building activities.  In November we started talking about the problems we see around us and brainstorming some ideas of things we could do to make a difference in our community.  The goal is to have at least one volunteering opportunity each month for each group (morning and afternoon).  I wanted them to take initiative and do the planning and preparation.  It has been fun to see what they have come up with.

Since this could be a lot, I'm going to split it into two posts to share about each of the projects separately.  It's fun to watch the youth give back to their communities.  

The morning group felt strongly about trying to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking.  As a result, they came up with the idea of going around town and trading people in the community an item (lollipop, gum, chocolate, or apple) for their cigarettes.  They also searched online for some pictures that demonstrated the harmful effects of smoking.  They spent an hour or two walking around town trying to impact people's lives.  

As we talked about their time, they were frustrated.  They felt like their project wasn't very successful.  They found that most people didn't take them seriously.  They were laughed.  Some people refused to make the exchange.  Others made the exchange because they were youth.  Overall though, they recognized that even those who exchanged cigarettes for another item, didn't change their thinking at all.  

Although it was challenging for them, I think this will give us a chance to learn from our mistakes as we move forward.  They will have the opportunity to learn how to be effective change makers in their community.  I look forward to seeing how they will grow throughout the year.  

Thanksgiving

I found much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.  I ended up celebrating Thanksgiving over a span of eight days … I love elongated holidays.  I found that the initial time I celebrated, things were busy and although I was thankful, I had not really taken the time to dwell on the things I was thankful for.  After eight days, I had many opportunities to once again think about all the ways God has blessed my life.

I spent Thanksgiving morning and lunch with the Stewart family here in Taraz.  We played Settlers and had a really nice lunch.  I always enjoy spending time with them.  In the afternoon I traveled to Shymkent where I would spend the rest of the holiday weekend.  Some friends, who I had gotten to know better when they showed up at the same guest house in Thailand, invited me to spend the weekend with them.  It was a fun weekend mixed with relaxation (watching Christmas movies, watching football, decorating for Christmas) and celebrating the holiday with others.   

Last Friday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our office staff.  I found some turkey breast when I was in Shymkent, so the food was pretty authentic.  It was my first time cooking turkey breast (I have cooked turkey with a pop-up timer before) and was pretty happy with the results.  I may have to do that more often, even though I'm actually not a fan of turkey.  We had a lot of fun visiting and eating together.  

We also continued a tradition that has been in place on and off since 2006.  Our team started a tablecloth of thanks (from a tradition my mother had started in our home).  Everyone who shared Thanksgiving with us, wrote the date and what they were thankful for on the tablecloth.  When I returned last year, I found the tablecloth and started up the tradition again with our office staff.  This year we enjoyed going around the table looking at what everyone had written last year and then adding the things we were thankful for this year.  It's fun to be able to focus together as a staff on all the ways we have been blessed. 

Thank you for your friendship.  You are such a great blessing to me.  

Runaway Sheep

I promised some funny stories in my last post, so here you go.  A few weeks ago I was pulling up to the team house.  I looked up and saw a random sheep walking my way.  After getting out of the car, I realized our neighbor's gate was open a little bit.  Earlier in the week I had noticed some sheep in their back yard, which usually means some sort of yummy dinner is coming up.  I rang the doorbell and then was trying to figure out how to keep the sheep (let's call it "dinner") from running off.  Thankfully, another sheep (let's call it "yummy") was just inside the gate.  Yummy was calling out to dinner, which caused dinner to come back over to the gate and look at the gate in a very confused manner.  They both kept calling out to each other, but Dinner could not figure out that in order to get to Yummy, he just had to go through the opening in the gate.  He would get right up to the entrance and I would move forward slowly trying to encourage him to go through but instead he would take off running down the street.  Dinner did this 3-4 times.  Each time Yummy would call him back.  I was afraid Yummy would get away too.  Finally, my neighbor came out and ascertained that Dinner was trying to run away.  She opened up the gate and then chased Dinner towards me.  I then had to chase Dinner away from me, which caused him to join Yummy in the confines of their yard.  My neighbor was thankful for my role in helping save their yummy dinner plans.

We don't have chiropractors in Kazakhstan, so I have attempted numerous things to try re-align myself.   This time I am going to a guy who gives a massage and over time re-aligns your spine.  First off, I have to go 10 days in a row.  That seems to be the magical massage number here in Kazakhstan.  Anytime anyone goes in for a "healing" massage, they are asked to come back for 10 straight days.  Second, the other day as he was rubbing my back, I was afraid I would end up with rug burn (or whatever you get from a sheet) on my cheek from my constant motion back and forth.  Third, he uses one word periodically that sounds kind of like therapy.  I have come to realize that it actually means "you will soon be in excruciating pain, but I promise, it is good for you."  Finally, each massage ends with him smacking me on the back over and over again and then telling me I have to lie still for several minutes.  It has been helping though, so I guess I can't complain too much.  I find myself trying not to laugh as I imagine people I know experiencing the same fun.

Overall, this week has been a crazy, busy week.  Here are just a few things I have done.

• Met with a 49 year-old man who has no legs and only one arm who was requesting a wheelchair.  
• Gave a wheelchair to a 14-year-old boy, after spending some time with he and his mother and brother. 
• Introduced the children at the foster home for kids with disabilities to the iPad. 
• Gave away a used computer to a man and his two daughters.  I think it is their first computer, as they were really excited about it. 
• Met with a man who tried to encourage me to allow him to read my past and future and then heal me of any problems.  
• My English clubs came up with their first volunteering project ideas.  They did a great job being creative. 
• Two Kazakh lessons.  
• Helped my Kazakh mom with something she has to do on the computer for work. 
• Helped fix my Kazakh brother's iPod. 
• Waited 30 minutes for someone who had asked for help to show up at his own home so we could better understand his request.  We eventually had to leave.  
• Visited with one of my former English club members.  

It's been a month

I just realized how long it has been since I last blogged.  It's been a bit of a crazy, but great month.  Below are some of the highlights.

• We had a small delegation in town for 1 1/2 weeks.  They were a great encouragement and the schedule included some really interesting activities.  We laughed a lot, which I always enjoy.  
• During their time here we were able to have a round table discussion where we invited the caregivers of children with disabilities to our office.  They came into the room wearing the weight of the world on their shoulders.  As our group listened to them, that weight seemed to decrease.  We were able to give each one a quilt that was hand-made by some women in Muncie and share that they were made with love.  This not only touched them, but touched me as well.  I don't know how many quilts I have given out over the years, but these meant the most to me. 
• During the delegation time there was a car training that took place with graduated orphans.  This car training happened to be mostly females.  It was fun to see them excited about learning how to repair cars.  I had the chance to watch one day and learn a bit as well.  I could probably change my own oil now if I really wanted to.  The spark plugs in the car I drive were also changed, which was great!
• One of the delegates and I took a quick trip to Shymkent to see her sponsored child.  It was fun to spend time with with both of them as well as see friends in Shymkent.  
• English club has been going really well.  We have been working in listing the problems we see in Taraz and now we are going to begin working on how we can go about volunteering in our community to meet those needs.  It should be fun to see the kinds of ideas they come up with.   
• I will be visiting with several people this coming week who have requested things from us (orthopedic shoes, walkers, wheelchairs, etc).  I am setting up times to go into their homes and visit with them to get to know them better and understand the needs to a greater degree.   It will likely be a pretty busy week, but I am looking forward to this.  

Next time I'll try to share some funny stories since this update was more of one to catch you up on what has been a crazy month.  Have a wonderful week!