The three elders came with us to do service at The Ark orphanage. We spent 7 hours there cleaning, painting and clearing weeds and debris. When we moved a large storage cabinet away from the wall, it was covered with black cobwebs. Rick spent time cleaning the wall off with a traditional straw broom. He's just finishing the job here.
Elders Beckh, top, and Brinton had to cover the storage cabinet with plastic before we started painting. They were pretty innovative getting high enough to cover the top.
The elders found an old bike and couldn't resist a little fun during a break. Elder Brinton became quite proficient, even doing wheelies.
One of the elder's jobs was to clear marijuana plants. We see it growing wild everywhere here, even in peoples yards and around businesses. Elder Hansen had a helper, Medet, who lives at the orphanage.
We were invited to have lunch with the children and each missionary sat at a different table. The boy on Elder Brinton's left invited him to come back to his room to take a nap after lunch. The missionaries were just darling with these adorable little children.
Medet, on the left, insisted that Rick and Anne sit at his table. We also enjoyed having Sasha, Antone, and another Sasha. They served us homemade chicken noodle soup, carrot salad and fresh bread.
Each child is assigned responsibilities each day. These two little boys helped prepare and serve lunch and then cleaned up their assigned tables after lunch. They are all very well behaved and polite.
One of the most inspirational things we saw was this painting by Vova. He's lived at the Ark for several years and is completely wheelchair bound. His hands are very crippled, but he paints wonderful pictures by holding the paint brush between his ring finger and little finger. He wanted to show us this particular painting because he said he saw it in a dream. We couldn't help but see the resemblance to the Tree of Life, with the river running beside it and the walls of Jerusalem in the background. We were all very touched.
After lunch, we all finished our projects. The elders had to be innovative again to haul the clippings and weeds to the dump pile. They used a large plastic woven bag and a screen framed with wood. They said the screen was heavier than the stuff they hauled on it. Rick and Anne finished painting and cleaned up the room.
The Nur Orphanage
Elder and Sister Anderson, humanitarian missionaries, came to Almaty from Astana to spend a few days evaluating humanitarian projects. We drove them out to Talgar to visit The Ark and Nur orphanages. The Church has provided equipment for Nur in the past. They were proud to show us the professional stove and ovens they received from Salt Lake.
When we arrived, these boys were happy to have their picture taken. The orphanage houses 100 children in dorms.
After meeting some of the staff and the head of the orphanage, we were treated to a lovely lunch. All the food is cooked on-site and was really good.
"Big Mama", the founder, was so gracious, helping the young girls who served us.
They had prepared scones, flat bread, rolls, turnovers, blini (Russian pancakes), salad, roasted chicken, vegetables and cookies for us to enjoy. We were all very full when we finished.
Azamat, "Big Mama's" son, interpreted for us until the woman on the left came from her teaching job to take over. They were both very kind and answered our questions.
This stack of flour will last about 20 days. They use a bag a day. It was stacked in the hall because the storage room kept it too warm in the summer weather. Part of the remodeling they are doing is to improve this room so it can stay in it all year long.
One of the girl's dorm rooms. There are twelve beds in the room which is used just for sleeping. The Church provided beds they needed last spring.
These are the wardrobes in one of the girls' dressing rooms. Each girl has one side of these little closets to store all her possessions. I hope our grandchildren realize how fortunate they are!
Across the courtyard at the back is the bath house. It is being renovated right now, but is where the children go to shower and bathe. Eight can go in at a time. I can't imagine how miserable it is during the winter months. It gives me chills just thinking about the cold after a warm shower. The gardens were lovely in different areas of the complex.
