Wow what a day

When did this day start...... We had one busy day. Jet lag had us all up between 4:30 and 7am. Had a delicious breakfast at the Wrights. John was a cook at one point and does a great job of feeding us. Then we were off and running...

First stop was the bazzar to pick up 150 cabbage plants along with tomato plants to take to be planted at the invalid men's home. Also picked up a lot of bananas, they are a prized fruit around here and very expensive.




Next stop the garbage dump. People scavange at the dump to find food to eat and items to sell to have money. There were about 15 people there today. Larisa is the in country contact for todays projects. She is such a blessing. We handed out travel toothbrushes, toothpaste and a bag full of rice, beans, cooking oil and a few other items. The recipients talked about how valuable Larissa is to them. At Christmas she provided them with gifts and they all talked about how it was the best Christmas ever.




Next stop Iskara East. This is a small town near the dump. Three years ago there were about 80 peopole in this town and many different ethnic groups that did not get along. Larissa with John's support facillitated getting running water to the town - they have one punp. As the water project took place Larissa was able to unite the people. Since the women no longer spend the day travelling to bring water home the poplulation of the village has doubled.


While there we were served a community meal - in the middle of the street. Afterwards we broke out two soccer balls and played with the kids. Mason's favorite part - haha - was the donkey ride he got to go on.




We then stopped at the grocery, picked up snacks and headed back to the apartment for a bathroom break. Thirty minutes later we were back in the car and heaced out to the invalid men's home. Once again Larissa has done an amazing job. (think of the movie Awakenings) A once horrid place has improved significantly - it is still awful but so much better. We got to see the contrast somewhat when we were taken form the area that had the most imporvemetns into the sick wing. It was horrible - we wore mask and the smell still had me heaving. We delivered the plants and ceremoniously planted a couple. We were out of time and needed to leave to go to the next event.




So quick ride home, changed clothes and off to a performance at the Central Asian University. One very good guitarist played many songs. Than kids from a nearby orphanage performed songs for us. It was good but we were exhausted and struggled to stay awake. At one point 3 out the four kids were asleep and my head was bobbing.

Then out to dinner we went. John rented out a restaurant and we took the group form the university and orphanage out to dinner. Again another very nice time.

We are now back at the apratment all worn out. Off to bed I go. We are off again tomorrow for another busy day.