31 January 2008 - Letter from Kazakhstan

Last week we went to visit a new school here in Astana. The Church donated an audiometer to a handicapped organization that used to teach their hearing and speach impaired students in the basement of an old building.

Because this new school had room, they gave them a couple of classrooms for their handicapped students. They don't mainstream special needs students in Kazakhstan.



This is Anne, Mira our translator ,and Kulnazera who is the assistant in the handicapped organization.

The school is three stories and houses children from the ages of 4 - 17 years of age. They have nearly 1,000 students in their school.

They start at 8:00 a.m. and go until 5:00 p.m. and have extra curricular activities after their regular school.

The teachers are paid the equivelent of $400 a month.



This is a picture of us with the director of the school (middle) and her assistant (to the right of her) and Kulnazera, the assistant in the handicapped organization, and us.

They thought Roy was wonderful since he told them he taught school for 36 years. They related to him very well.

They were wonderful and friendly ladies and showed us the entire school even though we only came to see the handicapped students. They told us we could come back anytime!!



This is Mira being tested on the audiometer that was donated. As we entered each classroom the students all stood until their teacher told them to be seated.

They also tested Anne and found that she had 30% hearing loss. Huh?? Of course their was a lot of distraction going on in the room so I couldn't tell what I was listening for. Oh, well!!



They took us to a classroom with an interactive board. It is actually a computer screen that is mounted on the wall that you can write on or display any pictures, overheads, movies, or lessons of any kind.

Here she is demonstrating how it works. She can write in any color or width. It was amazing!!





They have a doctor's office, a dentist office, a physical therapy room and a room to help children with breathing problems.

Here I am getting my teeth checked by Kulnazira!!

Try adding a doctor, dentist and physical therapist to each school budget in America!!

These beds are for the young students when they get tired and need to rest.

Even though they start at age 4, they don't have to leave the preschool curriculum until they are 7; but they can start regular school as soon as they are ready and mature enough to learn.



We went to see an audiometer and ended up on a three hours tour. !!!!

We also ended up with a "snack". The table was filled with juice and tea, two plates of salami, two plates of cheese, two plates of tomatoes and cucumbers, two plates of open faced sandwiches and four different kinds of cookies and a couple of bowls of candy and some fresh fruit!!

This is Kazakh tradition and they expect their guests to eat!! If you empty your glass they hurry and fill it. The food is delicious!! And we visited with all of them. They were all so kind and gracious and we appreciated the hospitality. You can't help but love these people. They are truly wonderful!!

The young man in the picture was our driver who is the director of the handicapped organization's son. He is hearing impaired.

After lunch they showed us the two big gyms and then took us to the cafateria and wanted us to eat!! We hoped we didn't offend them but we declined. They said that maybe next time we could eat with the children.

Every child in the hall greeted us with a "Strastvitcha" (hello) and a big smile!!
We had a wonderful day!!

Just a note in passing: Monday morning here, as we were on line, Michele came on to chat to tell us that the Prophet had passed away. We were saddened by the news, but we are so happy for him and grateful that there was no illness or suffering. We will miss him because he did so much as a prophet and will be remembered by everyone.

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling