Posted by Walter Varvel, Interlink Resources Board Member
This delegation trip is my 12th visit to Kazakhstan since 2001. I have come to expect the surprises and the joys I experience every time I am here. Friday, it was witnessing three young orphan girls named Oksana, Anna, and Lila first meet their Kids Connection sponsors and literally leap into the arms and laps of Marci Meeks, Tom Garnett, and Janet Varvel. The room instantly filled with love, laughter, and many tears - including those of the Kazakh Director of Saramoldaeva Orphanage.
Saturday night, we went to a nice Turkish restaurant to celebrate Marci and our Kazakh “daughter”, Tursynai’s 21st birthday. Tursynai lived with us for one year in 2007 while she underwent corrective leg surgery. After dinner she wanted to dance and dance and dance. I watched with amazement at the miracle that had taken place in this beautiful young lady. For 13 years, Tursynai could only walk with the aid of crutches. In 2003, I asked her about her dreams. She told me she wanted to be able to dance like the other children. O, how that dream has come true!
While she lived with us in 2007, Tursynai told me that her big dream was to go to University and become a social worker to help other orphans. This summer she won a full scholarship to the Kazakh National University in Almaty and is working hard to achieve that dream.
As I watch new sponsors meet their children for the first time and see the bond of love grow between them, I can only imagine how many more of these children will begin to have hope and dreams for their future.
