Project 9 and 10
Project Nine: Phillip Morris Kazakhstan Orphanage Project:
Sponsored By: Phillip Morris
Implement By: Union of Women, Hope
This project was implemented two years ago through the older orphanage, House of Youth, in Almaty. Thus, all Phillip Morris Kazakhstan needed was an organization willing to pursue the finding of graduates from the local, House of Youth, and working with the Uralsk PMK office to set up a similar type program. Also, Sue needed to correspond with the organization, International Women’s Club, to find the financial sponsorship for the program. These two organizations agreed on the setup and outline of the practicum and then the amount to be paid to each participant. The highlights of the program are as follows:
• Provide orphanage graduates with necessary technical skills to find jobs
• Improve business and life skills of participants through the interaction of working with business professionals
• Improve business-related skills (negotiation skills, collecting data, submitting data, reporting on their observations)of orphanage students by having hands on experience in a business environment
The financial contributions by both groups allow the students to have a nice starting salary. Participants will be given 7,000 tenge every month through the Trainee Merchandisers program, by the Almaty International Women’s Club. In addition, Phillip Morris Kazakhstan will also pay students 8,000, tenge per month through their payroll.
During the interview process and meeting the students that live at the House of Youth, Shanrak, the idea of hope was integrated into the young adult’s minds. Taking the negative aspect of being an orphan who will not amount to anything but a prostitute or drug dealer into the positive light and showing them that there are options they can choose other than what some people feel is the “destiny of an orphan”.
In seeing how sometimes one just needs to have hope either through opening doors of opportunity or giving students the needed resources, we realized the importance of expanding the sponsorship program to the students still living at Zhas Dauren.
Project Ten: Expanded Zhas Dauren Sponsorship Program:
Sponsored By: World Partners
Implement By: Union of Women, Hope
Therefore, expanding the sponsorship program will give hope and a positive outlook to students at a younger age. Enticing these students ages 7 and 8 to set goals including entering college or the Universities because they will have the possibility to fund such activities. The sponsorship program backed by the American NGO, World Partners, Kazakhstan NGO, Zhana Zhol, and other Uralsk participants. Each organization agreed on the following aspects to make the program sustainable and beneficial for the students after and during their life at Zhas Dauren:
• Have parents pay $30.00 to the program: $25.00 will go to the students; $5.00 will go to the orphanage for projects.
• An in host country national will write regular letters to families letting them know what is happening with the money they are sending, such as, projects at Zhas Dauren.
• Let the students, upon leaving Zhas Dauren, go with the Life Skills teacher to learn how to operate their bank account, with the bank setting a limit on the amount they are able to withdraw.
• Let students choose if they want a family who will write letters or a family that just wants to send money.
As the program started in 2000 and is now being redone, we hope that it will last at least another five years with the following goals in place.
• Getting the sponsorship program to become an active of the kids development at the orphanage.
• Expanding the program to let all children have the same opportunity to have the benefits (role model, bank account started, support system, etc.) of a sponsor family.
• Get the sponsor families more involved with the orphanage with the increase of communication from a country staff member.
• Expand students practice with the English language, for students who will write letters.
Through this long process of expanding programs with the orphanage our relationships kept increasing with sponsor families in the states. One family decided to donate $500 to IBC to support such progress.
Project Eleven: Internship
Sponsored By: Donna Tagliaferro
Implement By: IBC Group
We decided to use this donation and some of the revenue from the American Adoption Family Project to provide a 12 month internship at IBC Group for one Zhas Dauren graduate. We selected the graduate that received a 4 year scholarship to the University but did not receive funding for his housing and food. We calculated a stipend that would provide him enough funds for housing and food for one year. During his internship, he will work across all three of the IBC divisions with a primary focus on supporting our internet division.
Reflection on the past two years:
Being able to watch young adults grow through experience, needed love from new friends, and hope in the future has been a priceless experience for me. I have witnessed a young girl; timid, shy, meek, and withdrawn, blossom into a beautiful young woman who has a new spark of confidence in her eyes. I have laughed with young ladies learning how to cook rice in my kitchen only to have it come out not tasty and clumpy. I have been mauled on regular visits to the orphanage, which honestly, was my main reason of going. Sometimes, I needed these children just as much as they needed me. We are from two very different worlds, but similar in more ways than one. I have been blessed by this wonderful opportunity of working with Zhas Dauren during my Peace Corps experience.
Sue Scholten
There are many moments that will stay with me for many years to come like the day that the kids graduated from the computer training program and they prepared a speech for BG in three languages and performed traditional Kazakh dances. I won’t forget the smiles on their faces when they received their certificates and put their new BG caps on for the first time.
I will also remember the day when we took the winners of the scholarship to lunch with BG and one of the kids looked at me and said “I will remember this day for the rest of my life”.
Terry Young
I am sure that all of these programs are making a positive impact on the kids and graduates of Zhas Dauren and changing us in ways we haven’t even understood. When we finish our assignment in Kazakhstan, I know we will always remember the kids of Zhas Dauren and the organizations that helped make a difference in their lives.
Posted by youngterry
at 2:20 AM CST