Saboatnik

Posted by Ember Mumaw, Intern

Kazakhstan has been swept clean, and by more than just its fierce and dusty winds. With the approach of the Kazakh New Year, Nauryz (March 22nd), the people of Kazakhstan had a huge spring cleaning. All around the city the winter trash and wear have been wiped away. Broken branches, trash, and piles of dirt were lifted from ditches and corners and were piled along the street for pick-up. Trees were trimmed (so they remain short and bushy) and then the lower halves were painted white, as is the custom here. They say that you know Kazakhstan could be home if you find the painting of the trees to be beautiful…the American staff here all find it to be so! The name of this cleaning is called Saboatnik.

Here at the office we held our own Saboatnik. The entire staff, including night security, came to clean inside and outside, from top to bottom. Various activities included but are not limited to: Digging out, resettling, and pruning the roses, emptying out the basement which was filled from a year of delegation overflow and storage, cleaning the windows, painting the kitchen, repainting the parking rails and pavement in front of the building, and a redesign of the Kids Connection and Youth Impact offices. KC and YI were located in the basement of the building in rooms with small windows, gray paint, and low ceilings. They are now brightly colored and have children’s artwork and photographs covering the walls. We happily greeted the Kazakh New Year, Nauryz, with a clean face here at Interlink.







Note: Due to the delegation being here and extra posts to keep you updated on their trip, we held off posting this until their departure.