An economic opportunity was created in Artsakh thanks to a donor who I will not name by name, since I have not asked permission to make a public announcement about this. I will say that this is the donor that Madlene had mentioned in her log some time ago, that she was going to purchase beddings at the shooga in Yervan which would then be presented to the preschool in Shushi. She had decided that it would make more sense to have the beddings made here in Artsakh and asked me to investigate the possibilities. Well as you can imagine, that option was realized and now there are a few women who were sitting at home with nothing to do, now working away and having no time to watch Brazilian soap opera�s that are translated into Russian, which BTW not only give them a chance to escape from reality, but also yearn to have that same life (very sad). So with the lead seamstress, we took a trip to Stepanagert a couple of days ago to purchase the materials needed, all but the wool, which it looks like I have found in a neighboring village (this too is good for the village economy). So thanks to the donor and Madlene, the little kids of the Shushi preschool will have new beddings and a few families that found an economic opportunity will have a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I know the lead seamstress is having her teeth fixed with the money she earns, which is causing her much pain. The others will pay their debts to the stores they purchase their food from (everyone here has them and that will make the store owner happy) and maybe have enough left to get some gifts to give their children that winter Babig will leave for them on New Years. One other thing I want to mention is that we are paying them a little more than what they asked for so they will pay income tax, which will make the government happy too. What might seem like an insignificant gesture to some, has such huge effect on our peoples lives. I mean Madlene could have taken the easy road and just got the stuff in Yerevan, which would have helped Russian, Iranian or maybe even Turkish markets. Instead she took this opportunity to maximize the benefit this donor provided. A big THANK YOU to the donor and Madlene from all of us here in Artsakh!!!

Since it seems I have started the trend of reporting the weather, let me say that it�s been great!!! The low is around 50f and the high today was around 55f. From what I�ve been told, it should not start to cool down until after New Years. Now I need to think about some new trends to start. Any ideas?