Vistors to the State-Side Office

Posted by Bethany Planton, Coordinator of Kids Connection Sponsors

The weekend of February 6-8 we had some visitors to our office in the States. Vicki Charbonneau and the Adamson family were here for about two days. The schedule was pretty crazy full of gatherings and fellowship. It was a chance for Vicki and the Adamsons to see our office in the states and meet those who are involved with Interlink Resources here in Muncie, Indiana. There was a lunch with the Board members that live in Muncie and an open house on Saturday evening.

Bethany Planton with Vicki Charbonneau.

Vicki will be joining our team in May.



The Adamsons - Joel, Ann, Joel, and Rachel




Here are some pictures from their time here:
(Thanks to Vicki for taking these.)

Lunch with the Muncie board members



Getting food at the Open House hosted by the Knauss Family




Eating a wonderful meal with great fellowship



Group picture at the open house


Lunch on Sunday

Special thanks to all those who made this weekend a success.
We could not have done it without you!

Its a Bear!

At the Saramoldaeva Orphanage, in Taraz, they have a nice garden area with wooden characters and mini buildings for children to play in. Among the characters is this animal that some, in the Interlink's youth department, think is a bear while others thought it to be a pig.

It seems, even within the orphanage itself there was no clear consensus. Finally, we decided to have a contest, among our children and care-takers, to see what the majority opinion would be. Making an exercise in the democratic process, we took this photo and asked this simple question. Is this a pig or is this a bear. Children and care-takers alike checked the name of the animal they believed it was.

The final tally of votes were as follows: Bear 22 and Pig 15. So we decided “It’s a Bear”!

One of our gals later asked around and found the man who carved this animal. He told her that he first made a pig and then turned it into a bear. In any case all had a good time with the overall voting contest about the bear in their midst.

Moving On

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager
During our New Year's visit to Savva Orphanage, we had the opportunity to see several recent graduates.  Two boys, Andre and Ruslan, are now studying at military college.  It was such an encouragement to see both of them.  They seem to be doing well and making good choices.  Often it is scary for youth to leave the orphanages.  They are often leaving behind the only stability that they know.  Many youth are influenced by peers and make poor choices as a result.  It was exciting to see two young men that are making such good choices in their lives.  Here is a picture of Andre in his military uniform. 

Teaching Discipline

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager

We work with a local Taekwondoo coach to provide lessons for ten children at Saramoldaeva Orphanage.  They go to lessons twice a week, where they learn discipline, excellence, and commitment as they learn the fundamentals of Taekwondoo.   In the fall, one of the boys won a gold medal in a competition for which we helped pay for expenses.  He came by the office with his coach to show us his medal and certificate.   

Playing Santa Claus

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager

On Wednesday, most of our office went to Ulan Orphanage to deliver New Year's gifts to each individual child.  These gifts were the ones that they picked out at the store themselves.  It was slightly chaotic, as many of the children had switched groups, but with all the help it went pretty smoothly.  It was really nice to have most of our office involved, since many of them often don't get to see the faces of the children that we work to give hope to.  The pictures below show how much the children enjoyed their gifts.

 

 

  

 

What a Joy!

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager

This morning we had the joy of celebrating New Years with our younger children's groups at Saramoldaeva orhanage - about 18 children.  New Years in Kazakhstan is a huge holiday.  The staff and children created an entire production, complete with games and different New Year's characters. 

The morning started with the children entering the room and doing a dance around the tree.  Also, many of the children said New Year's poems. 

 

 

Then a cat and wolf came and tried to steal the tree, because they needed money.  Under the tree they found a golden key, so they left the tree and took the key instead.  The children were happy because their tree was not taken. 

Then Santa and his helper (a snow fairy) came.  They gave children their good wishes and played some games with them.  Santa has a broom that he flies on, so he gave all the children rides on the broom.  Santa then realized that he forgot his bag of gifts and then left to find it. 

In the meantime the winter witch came.  Usually the witch tries to do things to ruin New Years, but this time she just wanted to join the party with her four little friends.  Her four little friends did a dance for us. 

 

 

Santa came back pulling a sled with gifts.  Santa saw the witch and tried to kick her out of the party, but the children told Santa it was okay - they weren't scared.  So, the witch opened the bag of gifts only to find one of the children dressed up as a cow.  Santa was bringing in the year of the cow (2009).  Later Santa brought out another bag of gifts. 

This ended the party - except for a time for the children to dance and for us to give gifts to each child. 

Most New Year's parties have a somewhat similar story.  All of them include Santa, the snow fairy, and a witch.  I hope you enjoyed seeing what a normal children's New Year's party is like here in Kazakhstan. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Taraz staff