Chris Lewis - My Journey So Far...

Over the counter sleep aids are over rated. I didn't sleep a lick on the three legs of our flights.

My prayer on Day 2 was for our safety, our courage, and the opportunity to make a difference in Kazakhstan. That God will allow us to help these orphans and know that they are loved.

Amsterdam was awesome. We had an eleven hour layover. I had fun walking around the city checking it out and didn't partake in any of the activities it is known for.

We arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan early Sunday morning. So far it's been 57 hours without sleep for me and I think I'm becoming delirious. We met Aiman (our guide & translator) and her husband Yurek. Customs holds us up for about an 1.5 hours at the airport because they want us to pay for the 7 boxes of humanitarian aid we are bringing into the country. How ironic is that! If we were selfish and just brought stuff for ourselves, they're cool, but since we want to help others out, we need to pay them. Aiman helps us resolve it a few dollars later finally. I discover right away that Kazak drivers are crazy. They ignore most of what I perceive as traffic laws. Aiman fits right in. It reminds me of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at DisneyLand. So we get to the apartment some nice people are letting us use while they are gone and I get about a 2.5 hour nap. The first sleep I've had in 73 hours.

Although I enjoyed my time in Amsterdam and my first day in Kazakhstan getting a glimpse of the city of Almaty, I'm to the point where I want to do something for others. It's frustrating that it has taken so long to get to the orphans and I feel guilty that it's almost been like a mini-vacation.

After our overnight train ride (yes, I slept through the night and I'm back to feeling groovy) we arrive early Monday (today) in Taraz. Today we visited 3 orphanages and were able to look around and meet a number of kids. At the one orphanage where we were planning on redoing the bathrooms, we get thrown a bit of a curveball. They have two locations and they are going to be combining the two locations and tearing down the other. The top need for the orphanage during our meeting with the Deputy Director of the orphanage is laid out as needing new beds. We go check out the beds and numerous are broken (cheap materials). They don't meet health standards because they are not raised off of the floor. Several kids just sleep on the floor with a thin matress. We spend several hours in the afternoon pricing beds at several locations in the city. It was frustrating because no one wanted to work with us on pricing for 93 beds for orphans.

Tomorrow we have a full day of activities planned for the approximately 75 kids ages 5-18. We have crafts, group games, and field (dirt) events. It should be fun. We hear the kids will just love hanging out with us and soak up the attention.

The saddest thing I've heard on the trip was today. I learned that most orphans in Kazakhstan are adopted by the age of 5. Good news. However, those that aren't or come into the system at a later age rarely get adopted. The older kids are resigned to a life at the orphanage until they are basically turned loose on their own at age 18. If an older kid does get adopted, it almost always a girl. There are a lot of older boys at the orphanages.

Thank you for all of your continued prayers. We feel it and need it. And thank you again to those who helped get us here. We are trying to represent you well by making a difference in the lives of these orphans.

- Chris