Men's Day at Ulan

We had a guest with us when we went to visit Ulan Orphanage for Men's day. He and his wife were in town adopting a baby and since he had some free time he wanted to come along and help where he could. We thank him for his help and for sharing his thoughts on the day with us.





Posted by our Guest
While Men’s Day in Kazakhstan is not the spectacle that Women’s Day was back in March, it did provide us with the opportunity to share a small gift with the boys while we shared some time with them as well.

The morning began with the smaller children and the intent of some games, but the kids seemed to enjoy the constant motion of running and after several half-hearted attempts at forming some semblance of organization, the kids won and the running to and fro became the sole activity of all present, kids and adults.

A few offshoot games with short ropes or sticks were quickly discouraged, with a second attempt organized games again thwarted in favor of keeping a balloon aloft. Balloons are always good since they can be used for a variety of games; volleyball, soccer, keep-away and more.

Throughout the games, the simple expressions of touching; carrying kids, shaking hands, and hugs, are obviously more important to the kids than the games that are going on. The joy in their faces when we arrive is clear, the happiness knowing that their desires are important is evident and the delight from a simple hug would warm the coldest morning, but today is certainly not cold as the kids are sweating and the sun has shone brightly on us.

We finished our time with the little ones by giving the boys watches and then with a banana as a snack. A banana may seem pretty simple, but they are expensive here, even by American standards and the kids LOVED them!

Next it was off to visit the older boys and we met with each of the four groups of boys to explain why we were giving them gifts and wishing them a Happy Men’s Day. Greeting the boys is always a formal time as each must shake hands with us as we arrive and they are anxious to see what is up today. We showed the boys how to set their watches and talked briefly, but overall it was a short visit. The scene is played out in each of the boys’ four rooms. Each time as we leave, they respectfully thank us and say good-bye while they continue to push the buttons of their new watch.

Just the fact that someone has come to see them, let alone give them a small gift, is important.