Cows, Beehives and Greenhouses

We had a wonderful and busy week! Our friends, Kathy and Reid Bates, came to visit us for a few days. They’re also humanitarian missionaries, currently serving in Croatia and Turkey. Due to visa restrictions in Turkey, they rotate every three months with another humanitarian couple.

The Bates came to visit so we could show them some of the successful humanitarian projects here in Bosnia that they would like to start implementing in Croatia. We met up with our Muslim aid associate and visited a few beneficiaries that received a pregnant cows, greenhouses or beehives. 

First stop was to visit the cows!

This Beauty produces up to 25 liters of milk a day!

Charles thought he would give it a try. After a few kicks and a flick of the tail to his head he gave up.

This man has received  his cow three years a go. 

This is a high-quality breed that produces more milk than the average cow. Someone offered him €7000 for his cow and he turned him down.  

There is no I was going try to milk her, but I did 

offer a pat on the head 

Our next stop was to visit two families who had received greenhouses. One family used the income from their first greenhouse to buy a second one and then used the profits from both to buy two cows! It’s amazing to see how much progress and self-reliance they’ve achieved in just a few years.

                                                           

            

The greenhouses are 100 m². That’s a lot of vegetables. Enough to feed their families and sell to the neighbors 

                 

Each greenhouse comes with training for the owners, a water tank irrigation system, and enough seeds for their first year. 

This sweet family includes two children and their grandmother. In Bosnia, grandmothers are lovingly called Baka and this Baka was absolutely wonderful.

 She was adorable. My new best friend.

When Charles told them our last name is Lamb, they were surprised to learn that in Bosnian, lamb is Janje. Then came the twist—their last name is Janjoš, which literally translates to Lambs! Looks like we discovered some long-lost relatives in Bosnia we didn’t even know we had!

Our son Nathan served his mission in Sarajevo for six months and gave me a friendly warning about something called the “Sarajevo 15” because apparently, you gain 15 pounds when you move here. And now I totally get why! Everywhere we go, people insist on feeding us, and the food is incredible. This cheese was some of the best I’ve ever tasted, and don’t even get me started on the bread! Bosnia knows how to bake!

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It makes me so proud to see these placards displayed on all the donated items we help provide. Muslim Aid is an incredible organization, and we feel so fortunate to partner with them! We may supply much of the funding, but they’re the ones doing the heavy lifting on the ground and doing it with heart. Everywhere we go you can see that the beneficiaries love them and they love the beneficiaries

Forget lawnmowers, Bosnia’s got lamb-powered landscaping! These fluffy little gardeners are putting in the work.

Next stop where to see some beehives.

Meet Admir, he works with Muslim Aid and just so happens to be a bee expert! He gave us an amazing lesson on beekeeping, sharing all the techniques and tips for maintaining a healthy hive.

The machine behind Admir is used to extract the honey. We’re hoping to come back when it’s in action so we can see the process in person.

Beneficiary receives 5 beehives with all the equipment needed, the bees, plus training. After one year if they are successful, we will give 

them 3 more hives.

Spring has arrived in Bosnia! These bees are busy!

Any guesses on what this is? Even Charles couldn’t identify the tree! I’m thinking this vibrant red bud is about to bloom into something big and beautiful but we’ll have to wait and see!

             

               Meet the Bosnian Relief Society!                           We get together once a month for an activity.   Ljubica, from Mostar joins us via iMessage.      She shared a beautiful Easter message with us.

Iris was the first person in Bosnia to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back in 2011. It’s truly an honor to know a real pioneer—proof that it’s always 1830 somewhere! She welcomed us with a traditional Easter dish she lovingly makes for her family called sarma—pickled cabbage leaves (or sometimes grape leaves) stuffed with rice and savory meat. It was absolutely delicious!

I was in charge of the craft. I had us try traditional Bosnian Easter egg dyeing. We used red onion skins to color the eggs, placing leaves on them to create beautiful designs, then wrapping them in stockings to hold everything in place. Let’s just say I didn’t quite nail it. Thankfully, Iris was there to show us how it’s really done!

Our wonderful Relief Society President

Sister Helen Smith is from Idaho. She spends two weeks in Bosnia and 2 weeks Montenegro each month. She and her husband are a blessing to both branches of the church here.

Our adorable Sister Missionaries ❤️

Dying the eggs. This picture is showing the entire kitchen in our little church. A stove and sink and a little refrigerator under the stove

Our finished project! 

On Friday, We spent another day with our new friend Admir. He took us to visit the factory where the beehives are made. It’s a family-run business located right behind the owner’s home. Beautiful craftsmanship and dedication. We were really impressed!

We watched these 2 pound out several boxes that are going to be the outside of the beehives. They were a well oiled machine. They were getting them done so fast.

These are manufactured combs made from real beeswax, they give the bees a head start on honey production. With these in place, the bees can get to work making honey much faster!

Charles was in heaven! He’s always loved the idea of having beehives, and now he’s finally getting a hands-on lesson in all the basics. Unfortunately, our yard is way too small to make that dream a reality but that’s not stopping him from dreaming!

Admir explained that Muslim Aid often partners with small, local businesses to supply the materials we need for our projects. Their support goes beyond helping those in need, they’re also empowering small businesses to grow and thrive. It’s such a meaningful, full-circle kind of impact! It’s an honor to be a part of it all. This year we will be ordering over 500 beehives.

After our tour, we were treated to an amazing lunch. Do I need to mention Sarajevo 15 again??  help.

Sretan Uskrs!! (happy Easter in Bosnian) 

 Brother Begić and his friend came to church bearing gifts!

They made Bosnian Easter eggs and scones for everyone 

They taught a local Easter tradition where each person takes a turn tapping their egg against someone else’s egg to see who cracks first. I think they said it was good luck if your egg did not crack. 

The eggshells are taken to the forest and buried. The red shells symbolize the blood of Christ that was shed upon the earth. 

They also said to keep one of the eggs in a high spot in your home for an entire year as a reminder of Christ’s Atonement. After the year has passed, the egg is respectfully buried. 

Our egg is now safely perched high on the shelf. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it because the first sign of it turning rotten, and it’s getting buried early! I’m still not sure how it’s supposed to last a whole year… but hey, we’ll see!

We were treated to a delicious Easter dinner. Our dear friends, the Casbeers, never fail to spoil the missionaries and their friends by welcoming us into their home every Sunday for an incredible meal. 

Marta always makes the main dish and several side dishes. We all help by bringing one or two thing.. Easter dinner consisted of turkey mashed potatoes, Gravy, pasta & green salad, Rolls plus some authentic Spanish dishes. 

For dessert, we had brownies, Jell-o and I made

apple strudel and brought  ice cream    

Our amazing Sarajevo Missionaries

These 2 cuties loading up on some Jell-O 😁

I had the hardest time finding any kind of Easter treats. I was hoping to make a little Easter baskets for these amazing missionaries. But no jellybeans or chocolate eggs here.

 But I did find a store that sold  some chocolate bunnies with some other chocolate Easter treats, all wrapped up 

in cellophane. 

        I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!