Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

A new project has come to me, one that I hope to eagerly embrace and want to share with you.

In recent weeks, several private schools in the Albany area have approached me about helping them find a support a refugee girl or boy. I said I believed it was very important to choose a girl.

At least one donor at one school is considering offering a full scholarship to a gifted young refugee girl eager to get to college.

I think this is a beautiful idea, and I have begun contacting Albany schools and refugee organizations (so far, only one has gotten back to me) seeking possible names. As you know, the Army Of Good is supporting Sakler Moo’s tuition at the prestigious Albany Academy.

There is a $5,000 shortfall in the generous scholarship he was given, we are making up that difference for this year and the other three years he is in school.

We have raised more than half of that money for 2019 already, and most of the rest is pledged to me for next year.  Sakler is happy and doing well.

I can’t undertake another commitment of that scope, and wouldn’t ask the AOG to do that either, but I can held find some gifted female students, connect them with one of these schools and support them in any way that is helpful.

If we find promising candidates, I will connect them to the schools and help in any way I can.

I’ve met with administrators at three schools, and they are very serious about making their schools more diverse and bringing members of this community into their institutions. “We want to serve the underserved,” one school official told me.

I told the leaders of all of these schools that the refugee families have little or no money, and the scholarship needs to be full if it can work. A $5,000 shortfall  is the same as a rejection in most cases.

As I mentioned, several private donors might possibly be interested in filling that gap.

I want to keep our focus on small acts of great kindness.

I am especially drawn to small and individual and focused projects that alter lives and offer these children paths to success and security. And this project will not require any fund-raising as I  understand it (perhaps small amounts to help with supplies, or trips, etc.)

The refugees newly arrived in America are under siege and in great need. I  hope I can help get a bright and ambitious girl into a school with the resources to guide and educate her.

So far, Bud has been one surprise after another. I brought him out into the side pasture this afternoon and he took his work seriously, running with Fate, checking up on Red, and then, to my great surprise, he noticed Lulu and Fanny heading for the pasture.

He decided for some reason, they shouldn’t come in, and and he ran up to them and barked at them.

To my further amazement, they turned and ran back to the Pole Barn. They were startled by this guy. They have never let a coyote anywhere hear the pastures, but this small dog unnerved them and they retreated.

Donkeys are tough, and they can stomp a dog, but But never gets close to them.

Of course, they came back in five minutes and Bud behaved. Our donkeys are very gentle and sweet creatures, they came back immediately and gave Bud the stinkeye, he didn’t give them any more trouble.

I got a video of the donkey episode and other work with the sheep.

This is the dog who is supposed to timid and fearful – once in awhile, he is. But out in the pasture, he is a lion, afraid of nothing, eager to run and try to figure out what the border collies are doing.

He wants to do it also. Bud is a born farm dog, we are going to have a good time with him.

Kathy Wilhelm, a blog reader who works for the Ashton-Drake Galleries, has worked on a project dear to heart , a doll for memory care patients. She sent me Ashton-Drake’s newest baby doll, Kayla, the comfort doll, “I hope this baby doll can bring joy to one of the residents at the mansion.

She also offered to send some diaper bag items used to help care for the baby.

I did this once at the Mansion, we purchased a doll for Diane, and that has been a wonderful success, Diane sleeps with her doll, she changes her diapers, worries about her, loves and holds her.

It has calmed her and given her focus.

Kathy donated the Kayla doll, she wouldn’t take any payment, or set any conditions.

She asked only for some perspective on how the Mansion resident might react. Tomorrow, I’m bringing the Kayla doll over to the Mansion, and I’ll have  a meeting with the staff to talk about which resident would benefit most from this generous gift.

If this works out, Ashton-Drake might send another one. That would be great.

I studied the use of dolls for some months before I got one for the Mansion, there is some controversy about them – this is America, after all –  some doctors feel they infanticize dementia patients.

it is used mostly with memory patients, especially those with dementia.

I haven’t seen any evidence of that at all. These patients are not  getting younger, they are getting older. Could it hurt for them to feel younger? Do they need to be more mature? I remember Madeline, a Mansion resident in her 90’s telling me once “any more mature is the grave!”

It was a great line, but there was some truthful sting to it.

When I see the doll being used, I see how it calms people, eases their confusion, gives them a purpose, and calls up some of the best and most loving parts of their memory. It gives them something important to do, a way of feeling needed and useful.

I believe in them, and I have to say that this doll, the Kayla doll, is one of the best and most life-like that I have seen. The face and the eyes are extraordinary. I have a resident in mind for this doll, if I get permission, I’ll let  you know.

It is a curious thing to bring a baby doll to some women in their 80’s – the men don’t want one. But it is a beautiful thing. In some way, it brings their lives back to one of the most loving and essential times. There is not much else that can do that.

The comfort doll was not a gift I would ever have thought of bringing, yet I’m eager to see the joyous face of the resident who receives it. I’ve seen that look before.

I’ll let you know what happens.

Peggie’s computer came today (thanks Kathy), even though it’s five or six years old, it looks brand new, and came in the original box with chords and all. It’s a PC, not the kind I use, but plenty of people at the Mansion will figure it out.

And Peggie is a computer whiz herself, I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I bring it over tonight. The computer looks great, it was hardly used.

I don’t know what to say about the Army Of Good. There are so many good people out there with good hearts, to watch their news you will never know that. Many people are divided, many people are not.

This will open up Peggie’s life in a major way, connect her to e-mail and her computer games, a major and stimulating activity for her.

The Army Of Good has been one of the most affirming experiences of my adult life, it has sustained me in the fact of anger, greed, and rage. Can’t thank you all enough.

Bud arrived Saturday, Fate growled and snarled and barked at him for the first two days, he was undeterred, he kept challenging her to play. Fate is a fiercely independent regal dog, she is not into sharing.

But they did have a blast, and this signals another level of acceptance for Bud into our lives. Fate loves to play and plays rough. So does Bud. We’re on. Maria took this historic video. Bud settles in here more and more by the h our.  Come and see.