Karakol Trip (end of March)

So...I was waiting to tell this story until this website that I made was complete with info and paypal, but it doesn't look like it's high on Andrei's priorities, so instead I'll just tell you what happened and share the pics.

As for things of use that I did on the trip, I mostly took pictures of the grounds and the residents.  

We also played a lot of baseball.  Apparently some peace corps volunteer left them a full set of bats, balls, and gloves, and they love it!  :)  

This guy kept coming back for more photos.

The kids come from the area around the home, which is in the small city of Karakol.  Karakol is in a beautiful location, right at the end of Issyk-kyl lake with mountains on three sides and the lake on the other.  Some of the kids have alcoholic parents, but others are without parents altogether.

They're a rather thoughtful bunch.

This guy wants to be a lawyer, but he had me help him write an original song in English.  We spent a lot of time practicing English and just hanging out, he was such a good guy with a kind of fatherly heart for the younger peeps around.  

We spent two days there, mostly hanging out, and like I said, taking pictures with the new camera.  Played lots of guitar and sat around talking quite a bit.  They liked that.

Here are all of the kids.

A little more natural pose for them.  :) 

All in all it was a really good trip.  Andrei talked my ear off the whole six hour drive about his hopes and plans for the place, which include a small farm and a sewing room as money-making projects.  He also basically offered me a position working at their transitional home for graduates, which, while somewhat tempting and closer to where I want to be, felt much more like it would be a very easy to leave "agency" sort of job, rather than the long-term investment I'm hoping to make here.

Going to Karakol was a good reminder that just because a children's home isn't ideal or even "best practice," a well-run home can be a blessing to its residents and its community.  This gal surprised me when I came up to take pictures, she immediately took charge, grabbed my pen and list of the residents, checked them off as she helped me find them, and even did her "work" in English.  I was like "I wish I had a job to give this one," but probably she has a bright future somewhere.  It's important for me to remember that given the right nurture and a chance to succeed, "orphans" are actually going to be among the best prepared and most mature citizens come 18, especially in cultures that have low expectations for teenagers.  I wish I could impart a fraction of the self-motivation and focus that some of these Karakol youth have to my private school students.

Anyways, it was a good trip, and I definitely hope to stop in and see them again soon.  :)