Be a changemaker for the forgotten of Central Asia

Dear friends,

Around the world this is a challenging and tense time for many. However, stepping back from the immediate gloabl crisis, we wanted to share our progress during 2019 with you.

Looking back, we compiled quite a list of activities over the year, which forms something of an annual report. In 2019:

• 2,000 people studied on our English courses
• 75 of these from disavantaged communities studied with partial discounts or completely for free
• There were 20 meetings of the World Without Limits social club for people with disabilities
• There were 40 meetings of the Salem Youth club encouraging volunteering among young people
• We held 40 'Business Breakfast' training sessions for staff and guests
• We signed an agreement with the city's AIDS Centre to partner together in raising awareness of HIV/AIDS issues
• 800 people took part in the AIDS Xperience simulation
• Our Essential Teacher Skills conference was attended by 90 teachers from around the city
• We distributed 130 baskets of groceries funded by a local charity to families in need
• We hosted a presentation by the mobile phone company Beeline about employing people with disabilities
• We celebrated Nauryz, the Kazakh New Year, with about 400 guests
• The Shymkent Run Club held 2 presentations in our cafe
• We held 6 meetings with the local environmental activist Damir Karimov
• The local charity Wings of Freedom held a conference in our cafe with 50 participants on the theme of 'Let's talk about equality'
• The Russian photographer Yegor Voinov held a masterclass at Salem
• The Association of Family Businesses held a conference in our cafe with 50 participants on the theme of 'Family Business'
• 20 adults and 20 children took part in acting classes held by Sylvia Alloway from California, including their final performance in the cafe at the end of the course
• 50 young people attended our Youth Leadership Camp for young leaders
• Mohammed Said from the US, who was disabled by a bomb as a child in Afghanistan and now raises awareness of disability issues around the world, visited Salem
• We sent furniture and wheelchairs to the Shardara Disabled Association in a town outside the city
• We distributed a further 60 wheelchairs to people with disabilities around the city
• The VegaLife group ran a masterclass in vegan cooking in our cafe
• The Community Plus charity held two workships at Salem
• The EcoFest and plogging event was attended by 23 people
• Other events at Salem in 2019 included an artistic masterclass for beginners, a seminar with Bill Einreinhoffer from the New York Film Academy, and the city theatre's programme at the New Year party for the World Without Limits social club
• And finally, Salem was very proud to receive a significant recognition at the inaugural Ozgeris Ustasy (creator of change) awards

This year is already proving to be quite different in lots of ways, and internet restrictions at present mean we can't send you any pictures this time around, but be assured that we continue to work to see Global Citizens grow wherever possible!

Thanks for reading, on behalf of everyone at Salem Social Village.