Great story. What a wonderful daughter you have. God bless.

God Bless! Orphans and their plight is close to my heart. Nine of our children came home by adoption. What she is doing with the older children will make a life changing difference for those children.

Alexis rubber pants and chinese prefold diapers. You can buy them online. The ones in the store have a sponge pad, while the chinese prefolds are all cotton and will absorb. People also make wool diaper covers out of old sweaters. Also you can buy used cloth diapers from diapering services. They are also chinese prefolds and will have a lot of life left.

Hugs! You raised a beautiful daughter. What a wonderful thing it is to be reminded how fortunate we are in the US, Cananda, Australia, etc where most of our group members are from.
I tried to teach my children how lucky we are and how most of the world is far behind us in what we consider basic necessities. Somehow you taught your daughter the same thing. It has to be hard for you to have her so far away, but she is reaching out and making life better for so many children. Thank you for bringing your post back up where we newbies could read it.
Kat

Thank you for sharing the story and pictures. God bless your daughter for being the compassionate person she is. Keep us posted with regular pictures, please.

what an inspiring story for this day and time. she must be a special person.

It is so good to know that there are still loving, kind, and gentle people in this world of ours. Tell your daughter Thanks, for all the help and love she is giving to these people.

What a sweetheart your daughter is!!! Thankyou so much for sharing her story, and pictures with us.

Patti

Oh my, what a wonderful testiment. Your daughter has some God given talent to be able to direct and guide the children in such a loving way. You all will be in our prayers and please share more with us. I certainly have enjoyed reading about her and her adventures. God Bless her and you.

You have a wonderful daughter there! God bless her.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful Iam usually of the thought we need to help those at home first but some how this story really speaks to me. We are all talented and giving peoplle on this board, tell us what we can do to help your daughter and these children I know I would be glad to make and send a few things

Yes, I so agree. Your daughter's story touches our hearts deeply. So easy to get caught up in our wants and so-called needs and forget what others in this world have to deal with. Please let us know how we can help and also.... PLEASE keep sharing. :-D

When I posted this story, I never expected such a huge response. Thanks to all of you who have offered your prayers and your monetary help. I'm not one to solicit & I think it's probably not allowed on this board anyway, but I will ask Victoria what is needed most.
I had not posted about his before because I was not sure of the security risks. However, most of the Americans there are on Facebook and I can't think of a more public forum.

I think Kazakhstan will be the unifier of that part of the world anyway. They have made great strides since their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The President had a Pyramid of Peace built with a room for each of the world's religions. It is the only country in the world to voluntarily give up their nuclear arsenal of bomb grade materials..........and guess who got it! The USA now has it stored at Oak Ridge, TN.

Thanks AnnaQuilts for the source to buy used diapers and rubber pants. I will check o that.

I literally don't know what to say except "WOW".

Wow, this really is a beautiful story. Your daughter is strong and resilent and will go far (yes, even farther) in life. I'm so impressed with her willingness to give of herself in such harsh conditions. Here, in Louisiana, I complain about the cold and am afraid to visit my sister in ND! (No kidding, I just know I'll never return to warmth.) I know you are proud, and well you should be! Know that there are many of us who appreciate her giving, loving spirit and will keep her in our prayers.

It takes a very special person to take on this kind of a

loving task. My prayers go for her and all the other LOVING

people who sacrifice the GOOD LIFE for these infants.


































'

God Bless and Keep your daughter.

God Bless and Keep your daughter. She is truly one of a kind.

I'm going to try this picture of a newsletter from Appletree House, the house where poor kids at risk are given a hot meal each day and time to play in safe surroudnings. It may not be readable, but I'm going to give it a try. This is both a heartwarming and heartbreaking story.

Our daughter is not the only person in KZ giving love and support to the kids. There are several other Americans in various organizations and several nationals, as well. Below is Carrie, an American with a different organization and Rita, a local Korean, at the Baby House.

Beautiful people and beautiful story!

Welcome back and things for keeping us updated about your daughter, those kids are precious

Here's one I know you quilters/sewers will love. Sasha, the girl in black on the left end of couch, sews costumes and clothes on the old treadle machine in the background. These girls live at a halfway house that helps them transition from the orphanage and they go to school while living here. They learn the life skills that most of the kids never have the chance to learn, so they are the lucky ones. Victoria taught English there 2 yrs. Sasha put on her own fashion show earlier this yr. She is going to be a fashion designer. She was only 16 in the picture.
The one at the opposite end of couch in red, is a twin and she has already graduated university now as a dance instructor. She choreographed the entertainment for Sasha's fashion show. I have some pics of that but can't find them just yet.

Vika in the bottom picture either knitted or crocheted he yellow sweater she's wearing. She is a resident at the Krupskoi home where there are 300+ kids. Lubya was able to go live with an aunt last year. Victoria said one day Vika was raveling out a scarf she had been wearing a long time and was going to crochet it into a different pattern. These kids are very creative.

Bless her. What a wonderful daughter.

An excerpt from an email her first summer in KZ. They had gone to a distant village for a 2 week English camp.

Highlights from my trip:

I was chased by 2 geese…it was totally unprovoked. I was even walking on the other side of the road because I knew geese are agressive.

I saw a lady attacked by 2 dogs. The owner got them off and we called Joyce, who is a nurse, and she came to check on the lady.

I discovered that I love raspberries. I hated them in the states, but when you can walk outside and pick them off a vine and eat them they are so good. They are even better over vanilla ice cream.

I went swimming in the river with the kids.

My classroom for English camp was in a yurt.

I got the stomach flu for 24 hours. A lot of people got it, but I was the only one that had it for the full 24 hours. What fun!

We stayed in the Craven’s house, which is the one that burned in February. It is mostly fixed up but some things haven’t been totally fixed, such as the bathroom has a door but it is bigger than the door frame so it never shut completely and the bathtub is not bolted down so if you step too far forward or backward the whole thing comes up. When we got there it still smelled of smoke but we left the doors and windows open and it aired out before I left.

The father of one of the girls from English camp and the church had cancer for 4 years and he died before I left the other day. She is only 14 and her sister is in New Jersey working at a camp for the summer, so she can’t even be here with her family. They do not embalm here and the body is usually kept in the home until burial. I went the first day and it was awful. They don’t do anything to the body at all. They had placed coins over the eyes to keep them closed and tied a cloth around his head to keep the jaw shut. He had lost so much weight that he was all skin and bones and was a grayish color. The body was in a pine box sitting on a table in the family room of the house.

I learned what the phase “until the cows come home” means. The people pay the shepherds to take the cattle out on the steppe and graze them in the summer. At 8:00 pm sharp the cows come home and someone has to be there to meet them and get them home. Usually, this is the kids’ job to get their cows and get them home. At 8:30 pm the sheep and goats come home from the steppe. When the cows came back it seemed remarkably organized. The cows seemed to know which direction to walk in and started towards their home. When the goats and sheep came back it was mass chaos. They went in every direction. Shepherds and children running around crazy trying to get them grouped together correctly and walking in the right direction.

Wow! What a fantastic story! Such a special young lady!!

CoventryUK....hello there. Not everybody is on at 3 am in the states. I was and so were you. Of course, it was 9 or 10 am where you live, but I find myself sitting up way too late. I love the UK...all of it. Hope to get back there. And thank you for your kind comments.

Didn't intend to send this twice. Sorry!

After many Internet and computer problems, I just bought a new computer, then decided to get high speed. I'm about up to 21st century now. I didn't forget to keep you updated about the precious babies and older kids. I had several pictures waiting to send and now I can get them on here hopefully.
All the babies at the baby house have recently had chicken pox so they were under quarantine for a while, but Victoria is able to visit again. This time she has been helping with a group that has 13 month old twin boys. I don't have any pictures of them yet, but she says they have the sweetest smiles.

Here are a few pictures.

Thank you so much for the update of your daughter. She has been in our prayers and I was excited to hear of her new endevers. Please keep us posted. I look forward of hearing more. She is a gift from God.

you definitly hav a super caring daughter i know you r proud how can U not be :twisted: :-P ;-)

Here's an excerpt from Victoria's email on Father's Day.

My funny life. This morning I was leaving for church and I saw a lady walking across the courtyard. It was Raushan, a nanny at the baby house. She was in group 8 but now she is with group 5 and we were together yesterday. I thought that can’t be her, so I just kept walking then I heard “Victoria” across the courtyard. It was her. She lives 4 stairwells down from me in the same building and on the 5th floor also. She invited me to her home this evening so I went. I thought it would be tea and chocolates….NO! I had a huge plate of bish par mak (with beef not horse) and a gallon of tea. Her daughter works for the police and is the person that removes children from homes when there is neglect or abuse.

I told them that today is Father’s Day in America and they said it is cheaper to call with the cell phone plan they have so they tried to call. When they couldn’t get you they said, "Well, now we know how to find you when you go back to America to visit."

Birthday party was cool. Actually, hot, with 54 + kids in a not so big room dancing and singing. That's the most kids I have had at once for a birthday party. It's usually in the 30s.

Victoria took over the birthday parties about 2 yrs. ago when the older couple who did them retired and moved back to the states. She buys them toiletries, school supplies and one toy and they have a party now every 2 months for everyone who had a b'day during that time. Until recently, they had a party once a month, but administration at the home wanted to change to every 2 months. You wouldn't think this was such a big deal, but it's the only things these kids get of their very own all year. Everything is shared, even the clothes they wear and a lot of those have been donated by Americans.
Once after a party, she went to tell some of them goodby and one little girl was proudly showing her new toothbrush to her little friend. Can you imagine American kids getting excited over a new toothbrush for their birthday?

Thank you so much. She loves thse kids.

Thanks. I would love to kiss those sweet babies. What's so funny is she speaks to them in both Russian and English. One day, one little boy was about to push himself over in his high chair and she said, "No, no no." He repeated, in English, of course.

You are a marvelous mother to have produced such a daughter!

Thanks Cottontop, but I honestly can't take credit. Her dad and I couldn't believe or understand at first why she would give up a good career in business and her home and modern conveniences to live where they didn't even have sliced bread in the stores and where most of the shopping is done in outdoor vendor stalls at a bazaar all year....even in sub-zero weather.

Now we understand that she answered her calling and we are happy for her. And I'd love to have all those babies to play with. :)