From Tuva, Siberia

June 2005

By John Green

Jerry Brenner and I returned from Siberia on May 4th and that's about three weeks ago as I write this. I think we had a very productive time but we also had one of our wilder adventures. I’ll tell you more about that later. First I want to tell you where all your money went.

Remember we went to take care of some orphans? Well, I think we did pretty well. We started by ordering a commercial grade freezer so foods donated during harvests can be stored. This was a critical need because, without a freezer, many foods couldn't be preserved and there were times when the orphans literally went hungry. The freezer cost $5800. The next thing we ordered was 320 sets of bedding. Each set consists of a bottom sheet (mattress cover) a blanket cover and one pillow cover. With 320 sets they will have enough bedding to change each of their 160 beds as necessary. The bedding came from a group of blind people who hand-make them. Thus, two needy groups were helped with one purchase. The quality of the bedding is excellent. They are made of material that is thicker than your sheets but not as course as canvas. They should last for many years and the cost was reasonable compared to mass-produced imports from China. The bedding cost $5400. $500 was spent to repair and repaint all the playground equipment we provided two years ago. $550 was spent to buy 100 large (laying) hens (and 1 or two lucky roosters). These will be housed on the orphanage grounds and cared for by young girls at the orphanage. Finally, a "herd" of 10 milk cows that will seriously raise the orphan’s standard of living was provided. Those children will now profit from having some milk in their diets. The cows were a steal (or a rustle) at $3300. That took care of the major needs of the orphanage and we still had a little of your money sooo...

We looked around for another way to make a big impact and discovered a Psycho-Neurological facility for adults near the children’s orphanage. Indeed, the adult facility is where children from the orphanage go when they reach the age of 19 or 20. It's not called an orphanage anymore because people living there are going to spend the rest of their days there. To make a long story short, they needed a few things so we helped them. First of all, we spent $900 to buy them 20 milk goats that will help by producing milk and meat (since only 1 or 2 male goats or "bucks" are needed for the herd, male offspring become a continuous source of meat). Then, we spent $550 for 100 large (laying) chickens with one or more lucky rooster(s). We spent $200 for 100 small chickens. All animals will be raised on the grounds of the adult facility and will be cared for by the residents. In addition, since the adult facility is located on what we would call "Wetlands", we spent $2000 for 200 pairs of all weather rubber boots. These boots will enable the residents to work outdoors and care for their animals and gardens year round or as needed. Finally, we spent $200 on seeds for their vegetable gardens - they raise all their own produce and we gave them starts for cabbage, potatoes, squash, beets, etc. They are grateful for all we did!

I'm sorry this article is turning out to be much longer than I had expected. I thought we could cover everything in a few short paragraphs but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It looks like we will need one or maybe even two more articles to adequately cover what we did last April. Larry Meegan (our editor) loves this - it gives him filler for future issues! Let me give you a little idea of what you can expect.

Last fall, we got the bright idea to commission a study in order to help convince farmers to use iodized salt for their animals. We did this with our own money because it looked like it would be very inexpensive. Our trusty agent in Kyzyl (Siberia) found two similar farms. We gave each farmer $100 and all the salt their animals could eat to participate in the study. One of the farms got iodized salt and one of the farms got salt without iodine. It was our intention to demonstrate how the use of iodized salt can increase herd productivity. In other words, use iodized salt and get more offspring! Now, this is not new research. Many studies of this type have been done and we had a pretty good idea what kind of results to expect. Still, it was a gamble and we would either strike out or else convince local farmers they can actually make money by using iodized salt. Stay tuned for the exciting results from this study and we will also tell you about the wool we imported to this country for analysis. Of course we want to find out if iodine will improve the quality of wool from both sheep and goats.

Over the years Jerry and I have had some pretty exciting adventures. There was the time we were left with 6 Russian machinists and the task of assembling three salt processing machines without instructions. That wouldn’t have been bad but we had no interpreter! Then there was the time our visas expired 5days before they were supposed to. We only discovered that by chance and barely managed to leave Russia in time to avoid detention in the Gulag. This last trip, however, was the most exciting yet. My good friend and traveling companion lost his passport in Siberia! You can’t imagine the problems that created so you will have to look for future issues of the "NJ Kiwanian" to see what happened.

Jerry and I got involved in this effort because we found ourselves in Siberia and we could see many areas where those people needed help. Since we have been involved, we find we do this for ourselves. Whenever we manage to raise a little money and use it over there to help some children it gives us an incredible feeling in our hearts. I just hope all the people that have participated in this project by donating funds can feel that same sense of euphoria and accomplishment. Just think, we have managed to transport 10 cows, 20 goats and 300 chickens half way around the world to help people in need help them selves. It doesn't get much better than that!

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