News

Our dream is coming true! The European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) is doubling every euro donated until December 31 of this year. We will use these funds to build a house in Tokmok, near the capital.
An Uplift house.
This gives us the opportunity to further develop our experience and knowledge under ONE roof and make it available for Kyrgyzstan and the neighboring countries.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported us in any way!

We are pleased to announce that 17 participants have successfully completed the course "Neurorehabilitation of Children with Special Needs. Physiotherapy using the aspects of the Feldenkrais Method". They gained new knowledge and increased their professional qualification to work with children with special needs.

In addition to Uplift staff, the training was attended by specialists from medical and rehabilitation institutions in Kyrgyzstan, as well as state children's residential institutions.

We thank highly qualified experts from Switzerland: trainer Christine Ingold and her assistants - Rebecca Meier and Martina Rumpf.

We spent a whole month from June 20 to July 20, 2023 with our little old and new friends. For the second year, the doors of the PF Uplift summer camp in Tokmok city were open for 60 children with special needs from 4 to 16 years old. 

Three times a week we had a great time together - we practiced English, music, talked about ecology and safety, played sports and cooked delicious and healthy food together.

We are very happy that our beneficiaries found new friends this summer, because the camp is attended not only by special children, but also by their brothers and sisters.

Chyngyz (14 years old, diagnosed with cerebral palsy) told about his impressions: "This summer I spent very interesting. In June I started going to the Uplift camp. Here we play different games, read together, learn English and participate in different competitions. Here I made friends with many boys. In the morning we do exercises. There are different activities in the camp. We play sports games. I have learned to draw here."

Asat, 7 years old: "I came to the camp for the first time this year. I have a brother Aziret, he is autistic, he has been going to classes at Uplift for a long time. He's 6 years old. And also there's my younger brother Adil, he's 5 years old, we all go to the camp.

We now learned the names of all fruits and vegetables in English. I learned to play soccer here. In the camp I learned a lot about cleanliness, about different animals, about traffic lights, about nature and how to treat it. What I like most here is that we can come together with our brothers. We have a lot of fun."

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.