Fall Festival!

We were invited to the fall festival for the handicapped children of Astana.  Since we've been traveling so much lately, we hadn't seen many of them since summer.  It was fun to see them again and enjoy the festival.  You may recognize the fruit costumes from a visit to Kamka's in August.

The top banana with Alan and Emin (our new translator)

This is one cute strawberry!

Some of the moms got to dress up as carrots and berries too

We saw this mom and her daughter last Saturday too.  We were at the same market.

Kamka's busy making sure everyone is having a good time

These girls did a cute dance to Mambo Number Five

He's a lemon with a carrot top

Elder Maxwell's favorite little friend, Zharina
 

Closing Ceremonies: Montessori Room and Hearing Aids

We were able to have closing ceremonies for two of our projects this week.  The first one was to set up a Montessori classroom for a school for handicapped children.  The day before, we saw the classroom then the next day the children were there too!  They look so nice in their school uniforms.

 This boy had a close encounter with a green marker!  But he gives great hugs!

Our second project was to provide hearing aids for some people.  The government here does provide some hearing aids for school age children, but the quality is not the best.  Hopefully the hearing aids will help the people to be able to obtain better employment.  Several of them were quite emotional as they thanked us.  They asked "What church are you associated with that would do this for us?"  It is our blessing to be here and be the ones that they thank when we are just delivering the things so many have donated to provide for their brothers and sisters all over the world. 

They also asked how we ended up in Kazakhstan.  We're still trying to figure that one out!  Just lucky, I guess.

We kept the interpreters busy, from English to Russian to Sign Language!

 

Visit to ..... Phoenix??!!

Shortly after returning from Tajikistan, Alan was given an assignment to escort an elder home to the United States.  He is from Casa Grande, Arizona, so it turns out that Alan was able to spend a couple of days in Phoenix.  He was able to visit with several of our children and grandchildren.  Here's a couple of photos to share from that week.

Sunny and her boys and new little one, Amber came to Heather's from Tucson.  Chelsea made a surprise trip from California and Seth came from Thatcher.  Bryan and Gabi also came up from Tucson.



Heather's Chloe and Chelsea's Damon having a blast with the Oreo's
 

Grandpa is getting acquainted with baby Amber




Seth and his dad



And our awesome kiddos sent goodies back with their dad. I enjoyed the ones he made it back with and hope we'll be able to track down that missing luggage!!

 

Neonatal Resuscitation Training

The neonatal resuscitation training began on Monday morning.  The first group of students was comprised of the best pediatricians in the country.  Some of them were selected as "Master Trainers" to teach other doctors.  The ripple effect can then go on as the trained doctors teach others the skills.  The goal is that every delivery room in the country have a trained professional to care for the babies.

Dr George Bennett and Svetlana and Jyldyz are helping get set up for the training to begin.

Marcia Bennett is working with our translator "Johnny"

Training Manual

The NeoNatalie mannequin all assembled.  These are quite amazing mannequins.  They give an almost real object to practice the techniques.  The green bulb on the left is a squeaker to indicate that the baby has been successfully resuscitated and is now crying!

Dr Mark Underwood and Dr Larry Warner are demonstrating the correct and incorrect things to do

Then the students get a chance to practice

Dr George, Jyldyz (our translator) and one of the master trainers, Jamshed

I told Dr. Mark that if I had a baby in trouble, I would want him in the room to be a calming influence.  At one of the previous seminars, a baby was delivered in another part of the hospital and he was called upon to resuscitate it!

Love this picture in our training room

At the completion of the training, the participants receive their certificates and the equipment for their hospitals, including large and small mannequins.

The first and second day participants

This is the hospital where we held the training.

Lunch was at a wedding hall next to the hospital.  Here are some of our Master Trainers with Dr Mark.

Some of our Tajiki friends

The master trainers receive recognition as teachers

A gift to us from the Master Trainers!

The master trainers, our doctors and the minister of health of Tajikistan.  The little woman by George is named Zebo.  It means beautiful in Tajik.

This really is an amazing program that the church does all over the world.  George and Marcia Bennett have gone on training trips like this for over eight years.  It was a real treat to work with them!