Craig and Debbie Rayner

Dear Friends and family,
THE MOVE— (Deb) What an awesome two months! At the beginning of May we renegotiated with the moving companies and after talking it through with the teachers decided to pack the school up ourselves. Daunting task, thankful my time in Hong Kong meant I had several systems to choose / steal from, and started making box labels and packing lists! As May went on, it became clear that the floor tiles that where stuck in customs where really not going to get unstruck ( they arrived 24 Jun!) we started looking at alternatives. There where 4 containers on the site, which where in a cow pasture, ok a start! (We got those moved) Then we looked at some classrooms that where further along. And the extra stuff went into the gym – good solid plan! Thankfully Craig was with me and helped in everything including reminding me about furniture that needed taking apart as well as making sure I ate and got home. I loved being back into something so familiar and had a great time working with the families preparing the school – our fab Dad’s turned out with their tools to take down everything attached to the walls, the entire high school gave a morning – 100 volunteers! Then another 50 people helped pack up on the last Wednesday of school. Phil Evans who had worked with me on the Crossroads move from the old airport across to the current site in Hong Kong was passing through and stayed with us to help on the actual move days- along with a wonderful team of 6 people from the school. June 9, 10, and 13th we moved the school. On the last day our two maintenance men shared the good news with the moving team- they never loose an opportunity! That night the MMM prep team arrived! The new school is still struggling with contactors and work that needs finishing. We are still looking forward to ceilings, electrical fittings, flooring and toilets…. A huge increase in workers on the site is needed.

THE MMM TEAM— (Deb) Way back in October, I was chatting with the school director and he was saying he was thinking about how to make good quality cabinets and new cubbies for the elementary students at the new school. I said I have a bunch of friends in Hong Kong who are into helping support work like ours by doing carpentry type stuff…(www.mmm.org.hk) So I asked would they like to come to a new country…how about Kazakhstan? And they said, “Sounds like fun!” So 12 fearless men and 2 brave ladies came to help the school, most are Cantonese locals with a background in construction work. The preparation team arrived on the 13th June to find the supplies for the job and to get a sense of the city. We where at the school and I had brought some noddles for lunch, but during the move I had not thought to bring forks, so the guys who had just built a table saw jumped into action and made some chopsticks! They are a can do bunch with a sense of adventure. The main t team arrived on the 20th June and for the last week they have been working hard making cabinets. This week the temperature was up to 37c, please be thinking of them and safety for them and a good understanding as they train our local maintenance team. Craig and I are the tour guides, I keep wandering around looking for things with 14 people behind me – there has been a lot of grace! Thankfully Craig is up on the bus routes to get them home! They will be with us until July 9th, and by then the floors should be down and we can start unpacking some of the building!

Photos: (on FaceBook):
Keeping up with the building project.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150244692159357.344565.580119356&l=c13d51e79f
MMM Team Photos
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150244722829357.344585.580119356&l=709e3e3fd0

Contact Details

Our E-Mail Addresses: and

Current (Kazakhstan) Postal Address:
PO Box 10, Post Office Branch 36,
Almaty, 050036,
Republic of Kazakhstan
Home Phone: +7 727 299 5288

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Contact details were last updated on the 9^th August 2011.