Bringing Bingo to Kazakhstan

A few weeks ago my English club decided they wanted to do something fun for the residents of a local retirement home.  We were hoping to have Tuesday to plan more details, but the retirement home decided Tuesday (the 25th) would be the best day to visit.  As a result, I ended up coming up with the plan for our time.  Back in high school our Key Club would go to a retirement home each month and play Bingo.  We all had such a great time that I wanted to try it here, but wasn't sure how it would be received.  I had nothing to fear.

Ten of us arrived at the retirement home for about an hour of Bingo.  People began trickling in and were very confused by the cards we gave them.  We also caused a little bit of a problem by asking them to come closer to the front instead of sit in their normally assigned seats in the cafeteria.  However, it wasn't long before everyone was playing and having a great time.  New people continued to come through the doors as they heard the laughter taking place.  Many of the staff even asked to play.  So many people played, that we ran out of cards (having only brought 45).  We had small prizes for the winners of each game.

It was fun to watch my English club members as they interacted.  They were nervous at first and didn't really know how to begin conversations with the people they met.  However, towards the end, they all seemed really comfortable.  When we left we had several people asking if we would come back again.

When I asked my English club how they felt it went, they thought it was great.  They thought everyone enjoyed their time.  They asked if we could come back again.  When I suggested we try to do this on a monthly basis, all but one was excited about the opportunity.  Looks like I will need to print off some more Bingo cards.  :)

See more pictures on Interlink's Facebook Page

Ray of Hope

A few weeks ago our staff worked together to come up with possible names for our new club for families of children with special needs (primarily for those with CP).  We voted and narrowed down the list to three names, which were voted on by mothers and children who attended our training earlier in the week.  The name that was chosen "Ray of Hope" seems to express perfectly what we hope our club will be to the families who join us.  When hopelessness seems to surround them, we want our office to be a place where they are encouraged to hope for a bright future.  Another great thing about the name they chose is that it works well in all three languages (Kazakh, Russian, and English).

On Monday and Tuesday we hosted our first training.  Sandra, a Physical Therapist Assistant working in Shymkent, shared some theory and some practical exercises with the six mothers who came to our training.  They learned about normal stages of development that lead towards walking.  They were also able to have individual time with Sandra, to develop exercise routines that will allow their children to mover closer towards the dream of being able to walk on their own one day.

One of my favorite stories from the day was a child who came into the room happy.  However, when he saw the equipment (which he was familiar with) he immediately began crying.  After we played some games (while exercising) he seemed to realize that he could have fun while participating in physical therapy.  He also seemed to be challenged by an older boy who was there at the same time, but was further along in his physical development and worked hard on his exercises.  Towards the end of his time there he looked toward the standing frame (asking to stand for a while) which is one of the things that he tends to scream about doing at home.  I was so glad to see the change in his perspective related to the equipment and hope this will last.  I think having an iPad also helped act as a motivator for him.  :)

Another fun experience from the two days was the time I had with one of the boys whose mother has taught him English.  We rolled, bounced, and threw a ball back and forth while practicing English (and doing his exercises).  I was extremely impressed with his ability to make changes to sentence structure based on what he heard and even add new vocabulary.  His mother has really done a great job teaching him.  He even promised to work on teaching me Russian when he comes.

Through February, families will be able to come to the Ray of Hope Club and give our facilities a try for free.  Starting in March, we will begin requiring people to fill out an application and join our club.  It will be fun to see which families choose to be a part of the Ray of Hope Club.  Thank you for all your encouragement.