Month: April 2022

Bulat Utemuratov Foundation, together with the Red Crescent of Kazakhstan and ForteBank, issued “Aid Cards” to those affected by spring floods for a total amount of more than 110 million tenge.

Targeted financial assistance was provided to 224 families to eliminate the consequences of devastating floods in Aktobe, Pavlodar and West Kazakhstan regions.

Financial aid was provided to 25 households (86 people) in the Pavlodar region (the villages of Rozhdestvenka and Kalinovka), 127 families (660 people) in Aktobe (the Almaty and Astana districts), 72 families (359 people) in the West Kazakhstan region (the villages of Shalgyn, Araltal and Zhaksybai, as well as the Aksai town). Among the recipients are single pensioners, multi-child families and families with one parent.

“We have been running the “Aid Card” project for the fifth year, and during this time we have had the opportunity to see that such projects are necessary. Having a certain amount at their disposal, on average 400,000 tenge per family, people feel more confident and can plan their expenses themselves. According to our experience, the money received is invested in repairs or spent on the purchase of food and medicine,” told Marat Aitmagambetov, Director of Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation.

“I have been living in this house for more than 10 years and water flooded our house for the first time, we did not expect this,” recalls Tatyana Kokh, a resident of the village of Rozhdestvenskoye. “We have packed some belongings and documents and sent our daughter and her one-year-old child to the relatives in the city, while my husband and I stayed in the house, trying to save the furniture. The water stood in the house for more than a day. During this time, the floors in four rooms became completely damp, the plaster on the walls came off. Though two weeks have now passed, dampness is still felt in the house, water squishes under the floor boards. Because of this, the daughter and her child cannot return home. We are waiting for warm weather to start repairs. We think we will repair one room at a time. First of all, we will buy new floor boards with the money received. We hope to have repairs completed over the summer.

The floods have already subsided, most of the residents were evacuated and settled in temporary accommodation centres, their lives and health are not in danger.

“I plan to use the money received to restore our house. Our walls are completely damp, the wallpaper in the rooms has come off, and the sofa has become completely unusable. There is a lot of work ahead,” shared Dinara Shalabayeva, a resident of Aktobe.

To remind, the “Aid Card” joint project of Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation, the Red Crescent of Kazakhstan and ForteBank was launched in 2018. Over the years, more than 9,000 Kazakhstanis have received aid for combating the consequences of spring floods in the amount of 360 million tenge.

Source: https://informburo.kz/novosti/pomosh-na-110-mln-tenge-poluchili-svyshe-tysyachi-chelovek-postradavshih-ot-razrushitelnyh-pavodkov

If the main team tournament in men’s tennis has been called the Davis Cup for more than 120 years now, then its female counterpart has changed not only the format, but also the name more than once. From 1963 to 1995 it was called the Federation Cup, from 1995 to 2020 it was called the Fed Cup, and since September 2020 it has become known as the Billie Jean King Cup.

Along with the new name, the tournament also acquired the official status of the World Team Championship. Now it is called Billie Jean King Cup – The World Cup of Tennis. In 2021, the Russian team became the first winner of the competition of female tennis players (the final was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic).

The women’s tennis team of Kazakhstan, having previously played away three times, lost the deciding matches for entering the Fed Cup World Group II. And now it is yet another attempt to break into the top 12 teams in the world.

Before the start of the tournament, at pre-match press conferences, captains Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) and Rainer Schuttler (Germany), as well as leaders of the teams Elena Rybakina and Angelique Kerber were cautious in their forecasts, noting that the match would be complex for both sides.

The hosts’ advantages were both native walls and strong support from the fans, as well as the clay surface, on which both Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva feel comfortable, just as the other members of our team – Zarina Diyas, Anna Danilina and Zhibek Kulambayeva do.

The first day of the match for reaching the final stage of the World Cup showed that the hosts were seriously determined to win. Putintseva, having beaten the ex-first racket of the world, the champion of three Grand Slam tournaments, Angelique Kerber in three sets, brought the first point to the collection of our team. Yulia made the fans worry only in the first set, which she lost with a score of 3:6.

Having overcome the starting excitement, in subsequent sets she made Kerber run more around the court and make mistakes more often. The score of 6:3 and 6:2 in favour of Putintseva speaks for itself.

In the next match, Elena Rybakina, playing for the national team of Kazakhstan for the first time, strengthened her advantage by defeating German Laura Siegemund with a score of 6:0 and 6:1. Thus, our national team took the lead – 2:0.

The next day, the first racket of Kazakhstan, Elena Rybakina, defeated Angelique Kerber with a score of 2:1 in a dramatic match. Moreover, the German won the starting set – 6:4, and our athlete leveled the position in the second set – 6:3. In the deciding third set, Elena, losing 3:5, managed to show her character and win with a score of 7:5.

“The match was very uneasy, it was difficult to play. But I adjusted. I realised that, of course, we would both fight to the last point. And nerves, and everything in general that was possible to feel, I felt on the court. I think I have a level and I could play better. I don’t think this is my limit. Maybe Angelique can say the same thing, because, as I said before, we have just moved to clay. I didn’t serve well today compared to yesterday. But in general, I am glad that I managed to overcome it,” said Rybakina.

This victory brought the Kazakh female tennis players a general success over the German national team – 3:0. And with this success came – for the first time in the history of Kazakhstani tennis – a ticket to the final of the Billie Jean King Cup. The remaining matches were just a mere formality.

Source: kazpravda.kz

On the World Autism Awareness Day, Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation encourages parents to pay attention to the early signs of autism in children.

“Autism spectrum disorders have many manifestations, so no two people with autism are the same. And if some manifestations, such as alalia, sleep disturbance or aggression, force parents to seek medical attention sooner, then in cases where the child seems shy or uncommunicative, time might be lost. That is why it is important for parents to be vigilant and turn to specialists at the first signs of autism,” said Marat Aitmagambetov, Director of Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation.

In Kazakhstan, autism is diagnosed at the age after 3 years. However, in world practice, there are tools used for earlier diagnosis. For example, the M-Chat test allows parents to conduct a primary diagnosis of a child on their own. Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation was the first to translate the M-Chat test into Kazakh, making it available to even more Kazakhstani families. The test in Kazakh and Russian is available free of charge at www.asylmiras.org

Since parents and family members monitor the child’s behaviour around the clock, it is important to pay attention to the early signs of autism:

• lack of eye contact, answering smile and reaction when addressing by name;
• limited use of gestures, no pointing gesture;
• alalia and aphonia;
• weak interest in peers and joint games;
• desire to line up objects (toys);
• manifestation of undesirable behaviour: aggression, self-aggression, non-fulfillment of requests;
• increased sensitivity to sound stimuli.

The “Autism. One World for All” programme has been implemented by Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation since 2015. Assyl Miras centres are successfully operating in 10 cities of Kazakhstan, and another centre will be opened in Karaganda in the near future. Services provided by the centres are free of charge. All specialists of the centres have done certified international training, which allows them to identify ASD at an early age and develop the missing skills in children. Last year alone, 2,150 children completed the courses, and for 8 years of the existence of centres over 11,000 children undertook intervention programmes.

Source: https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/2-aprelya-vsemirnyiy-den-informirovaniya-ob-autizme-465468/