Salem Social Village is a unique place in Kazakhstan where hearts and minds are challenged to bring lasting change to the forgotten people of Central Asia who battle addiction, poverty and social stigmas. We train and empower future leaders, provide practical support to frontline charities, and offer volunteer opportunities within disadvantaged communities. As we invest in people, we regularly see attitudes shift as they become changemakers. You too can be a changemaker by donating to us!
Central Asia is developing fast, but many people are being left behind. Around 40% of Central Asia's population still lives below the poverty line; HIV infection rates are some of the highest in the world; and drug and alcohol addictions are destroying communities. Prevalent attitudes towards issues like disabilities, addictions and poverty centre on simply ignoring the problems. Good leaders with new attitudes to these problems are needed to bring hope for permanent and lasting change.
We cannot solve these problems ourselves and certainly not overnight, but we are committed to a longer term strategy. By investing in young people who will be the leaders of the future, we can transform their attitudes and understandings to bring about a long-term impact. Through providing education, raising empathy and empowering individuals to take action, we will create changemakers who can bring hope and lasting solutions to the problems faced by those being left behind.
One person who becomes a changemaker can influence many lives by challenging attitudes and inspiring action on behalf of the forgotten. Our aim is to create a movement for change across Central Asia by training people to help others - and then enabling them to train others who can help even more! In this way, communities will become empowered to find local solutions to the various issues they face - and there's no limit to how many people could ultimately benefit.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
