News

Uplift Rehabilitation Center in Tokmok has started its first summer camp for our children and their siblings. 

Without any events and entertainment, the summer vacations can be very long for the children and also for the parents.

Mother Gulbahar: "Thank you very much for the summer camp for my children. I learned something myself. We just don't have such opportunities at home “.

Altynai, mother: "I am very grateful to Uplift for this opportunity. We visit therapists with our son, and now there is also a summer camp. It is very important for us that our two younger sons can also participate, they learned a little English, they drew a lot".

The children have sports, English, drawing, dancing and modeling lessons.  

Now there are 20 children from 8 to 14 years old in our summer camp.

Musa, 13 years old: "I like the camp very much and so does my little brother (brother Umar who has been diagnosed with autism). I like everything, especially the snacks, and Umar likes the small pool.

Azizbek, 12 years old, has mild autism: "I like the camp too, I learned drawing!"

Aiperi, summer program coordinator: "The camp was a very good opportunity to support the development of our children during the vacations. Not only the children were able to learn new things, but also their parents. We held trainings on different topics, for example, healthy lifestyle, sports. Next year we plan to include craft lessons for boys and girls".

The camp will run until the end of the summer for our children.

On June 10th ended the fourth and final module of the training "Introduction to Music-Based Treatment of Children and Adults with Disabilities. Theoretical and practical basics from music therapy". The course was conducted in 4 modules during 3 years. 14 Uplift-mothers and specialists from different state and also non-state institutions successfully completed the training.

Music therapy belongs to the psychotherapeutic procedures. The aim is to use the artistic medium of music (including simple sounds and noises) to set in motion a psychological process that can stimulate development and lead to healing. In the music therapy work with mother and child, positive corrective experiences of a previously dysfunctional togetherness are made possible by playing music together.

Music therapy is particularly suitable for children with early disturbances in the experience of relationships (mother-child interaction), deficits in the ability to verbalize, children with autism, etc.

We thank Viola Grandke from the bottom of our hearts for her invaluable professional contribution to the development of therapy for children with special needs in Kyrgyzstan.

The Minister of Labor, Social Welfare and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kudaibergen Bazarbaev, said this during a meeting with the founder of the social organization "UPLIFT", Mrs. Maren Ernst.

"The Ministry of Labor intends to apply international experience in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities throughout the country. For this purpose we will organize and systematize work in this direction and make unique methods available in all regions of the country", said the Minister.

Since 2005, the organization UPLIFT has implemented 9 programs aimed at preventing the abandonment of children to prevent their entry into orphanages in Kyrgyzstan. Uplift was the first organization in Kyrgyzstan to introduce new methods of physical therapy in orphanages and other state and non-state institutions.

The organization also works to improve the competence of local specialists in various disciplines such as physiotherapy, speech therapy and others.

In its 17 years of operation, the organization UPLIFT has supported more than 10,000 children through its programs. It currently works in 5 state residential care institutions.

According to sad statistics, almost every third premature infant has an ophthalmologic pathology - retinopathy of prematurity.

In some cases, this problem can cause total blindness.

Due to the fact that there were no specialists and equipment in Kyrgyzstan, parents had to seek funds, and go to Kazakhstan or Russia to have the surgery.

We have great news for you!

Dr. Aidai Bazarbaeva, ophthalmologist of the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, with the full support of the Uplift Foundation, has completed a two week course in Almaty in March 2022 on treatment of retinopathy.

Now she has to take the next very important step for all of Kyrgyzstan, which is to start operating here.

In May 2022, the new two-year training "Neurorehabilitation of Children with Special Needs. Physiotherapy with ideas from the Feldenkrais Method" under the direction of Christine Ingold and Rebecca Meier has started.

18 specialists from orphanages, treatment and rehabilitation institutions from all over Kyrgyzstan participate in the training: Osh, Jalal-Abad, Tokmok, Belovodskoe and Sokuluk.

The Feldenkrais Method is based on the fact that the brain is plastic. This means that every brain, impaired or not, old or young, can learn and the person can expand and improve its capabilities. Moshe Feldenkrais, the founder of the method, has defined conditions under which learning takes place. These include motivation and freedom from stress as well as the fact that knowledge is always built on existing knowledge, step by step.

Therapists who work with the ideas of the Feldenkrais Method treat the child with respect and restraint. They recognize what the child is already able to do, support his or her abilities, and build on existing resources. Under these conditions, the brain of a young child (or any human being) is able to naturally absorb new information and learn to move better.

We are pleased that this training will help to provide our professionals with new ideas and techniques so that they can deal more professionally with children who need therapeutic support and better advise their parents.