You know, how at Christmas, families have an Advent Calendar so little kids can count down the days before Christmas?
I have a "Spring is Coming" Advent Calendar
21 March
2 April
5 April
6 April
7- April
Look! All of the pathways and the roads are clear of snow and ICE -date - 8 April.. What a joy---roads and sidewalks clear and dry (except for those streets and sidewalks in the northern valleys between two tall buildings). It is truly a joy to be able to walk again without fear of slipping and falling.
8 April - Spring has come!!! It was such a relief to walk on the track this morning and not have to watch where I was placing each foot - no pits, no ridges of ice, no hidden tripping hazards!
Things like this were always hidden in the snow
Our week started off with a birthday party for Aja Holmgren who is the teenage daughter of an embassy family. They invited all of the missionaries to help celebrate her birthday and treated us to an evening of pizza and bowling.
Wow - even Dad bowled - too bad it is so dark in the bowling alley at the Hungry Rabbit.
And me....with a great approach
and the whole group
With the spring thaw begins the Season of Mud and pools of water that don't ever drain away but which eventually evaporate in the dry air.
A path through the mud
Clever downspout drainage from the roof top
and then the rivulet meanders out into the parking lot
This is my flower bed where, last October, I planted seeds from chicory plants. I can hardly wait to see how my plants grow.
One afternoon I went for a walk---it was the way I celebrated ice free sidewalks.
I went to the Astana Triathlon Park where we've been before. It is where we walked across the frozen river and where the giant inflatable rabbits were displayed.
You can rent bikes to ride on the bike paths which form an extensive walking/running/biking course.
BI is a really big, I mean a REALLY BIG construction company.
This facility is a 'showcase' part of the city. The paths were immaculate - clean and with no broken bricks in the sidewalk
Path sweeping
Here is the thawing river at the exact place where we walked across it a few months ago. Nope, not going across it this spring.
You're probably wondering if we did any work this week - yes, we did, but waiting for phone calls and writing emails to partners doesn't create interesting photo opportunities.
We had a stressful time with our WAQYP wheelchair people. On Friday we got a Russian translation of an "official" document which explains 'who is responsible for what' in this upcoming wheelchair project. We quickly had our translator contact them requesting a meeting where we could present this new information and also get all of the necessary Contact information so we'd know who was going to clear the wheelchairs through customs and the address to where the shipment should be delivered --and so forth. WAQYP put us off for four days before finally telling us they could not meet during the week. I think what happened is that LDS Charities moved forward faster with this project than WAQYP anticipated and that they simply were unprepared to answer our questions.....like "what is the address of the storage facility where the 300 wheelchairs should be delivered?" And, even though they said they would take care of all the importation details, I don't think they actually had a person's name ready to put on a Contact List. It was so frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a hard time remembering what I learned as the Activities Committee Chairman which was - remember we are all supposed to be friends, don't be offended - be flexible. I don't want to talk about it anymore..........................
We met with two potential partners to see if we might be able to help them some way. But, alas, both NGOs did not fit into our parameters. One was a group who helps transient people get back in control of their lives, and they wanted sewing machines so they can make things to sell. No.........that is a sheltered workshop which we can't do anymore. The other NGO had only been registered for two months and LDS Charities requires at least two years of being an NGO.
One of our projects was approved - the one for the kitchen equipment which will be used to give teenagers with Down Syndrome real life skills experience. So we had to gather all or the documents and send it off to our accountant who is a woman who lives somewhere in Kazakhstan. We just got a note from her tonight saying the Letter of Request does not have the key phrase, "We request charitable help" So now we have to get a new Letter of Request or somehow figure out how to edit the one we already have.
And, for good news.......we have two appointments set up for next week. One is with a place that treats children with autism. The other is: Komek, which is a Temporary Residence Center for victims of trafficking, established in 2009 with a capacity for 24 persons. That should be interesting. We are very hopeful that we will get two project to present for approval.
Do you remember the Blood Cancer Hospital - we met them first on December 2. Marina, the NGO's director finally sent us the necessary documents. So we will have a project to submit to Moscow this month. Good Times!
We had General Conference this Sunday - - because we had to wait for the Russian translation of the conference talks. We had the English video in one room and the Russian version in another room It was fun, at the very end, to play the portion of the Sunday afternoon session when President Nelson announced, " a new temple, in a major city, yet to be determined, in Russia."
After church we had a birthday cake which was brought by one of the members to help celebrate Komchat's birthday. Not exactly an approved activity for a Sunday, but, why not? This is Kazakhstan. The cake surpassed our expectations and was delicious.
Sunday evening we had the young volunteers for dinner - -surprise! We only had four for dinner as two Elders (Lowry and Topham) have been transferred to Almaty, and were replaced by Elder Paul. After dinner we spent quite a bit of time filling our MORE forms that are needed to apply for Russian visas----since we are now going to be in the Russia Yekaterinburg Mission. It is a very comprehensive application that required the use of a computers - thus our laptops.
Gray - Nelson - Crawford - Paul - Critchfield
Next - maybe good news about the wheelchair project.
https://www.ldscharities.org/bc/content/ldscharities/annual-report/2017/LDS_Charities_2017_Full.pdf?lang=eng
No comments:
Post a Comment