Embassy Staff Spread Gifts and Goodwill During Holiday Season

12/29/2009

Youth Exchange Opportunity alumna Anastasiya Ni (standing) helps out with holiday decorations at Orphanage No. 15 in the Buka District of Tashkent Region

One boy held onto a new soccer ball and wouldn’t give it up, and a little girl couldn’t stop smiling as she hugged volunteers from the U.S. Embassy who delivered toys and blankets to the center where the children live.

Several U.S. Marines and others from the Embassy brought boxes of toys and about 90 blankets to the 156 children who live at the Semurg Rehabilitative Center for Children with Disabilities in Tashkent. The gifts were part of the Marines’ annual Toys for Tots program, in which Marines stationed in the United States and around the world collect toys to give to children during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

Officials at the Semurg Center told the organizers that the children could also use blankets, so the Marines also raised money from Embassy staff to buy the blankets in bulk.

“There are a lot of kids here who we can help, so we collected money to get them some things they need,” said one of the Marine organizers. “It’s really nice to see the kids happy.”

Farida Husanova, the director of the Semurg Center, said the Marines’ gesture was about more than bringing the children holiday cheer.

“It’s not only about gifts; it’s about the friendship between us,” she said.

The Toys for Tots program was one of several efforts coordinated through the U.S. Embassy to distribute toys and other goods that can help those in need during the holiday season. Such gift drives and charitable giving are a tradition around Christmas in the U.S., and many Embassy staff wanted to continue it in Uzbekistan.

The Community Liaison Office (CLO) at the Embassy organized a drive to raise money to buy a washing machine for the Children’s Leukemia Hospital in Tashkent. American and local staff of the Embassy donated enough money to buy the washing machine and to contribute to other needs at the hospital.

About 70 children are at the hospital, and a washing machine was identified as something that would help workers maintain a clean and comfortable environment, according to the CLO office.

The CLO also organized donations of clothes and toys to be distributed to families through the Russian Orthodox Church, the Society of Blind People, and the Society of People with Disabilities. Staff in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) organized a similar drive to distribute toys to children in the TB pediatric department at the Tuberculosis Hospital in Tashkent.

Alumni of U.S. Embassy-sponsored cultural and educational programs collected bags of clothes, candy, and more than 1 million Uzbek soum (nearly $700) to donate to an orphanage in the Buka District of Tashkent Region and a center for children with disabilities in the Qibray District near Tashkent.

At Orphanage No. 15 in the Buka District, where more than 100 children between the ages of 3 and 12 live, the children performed national dances and recited holiday poems when Embassy staff and alumni arrived. The alumni made sure that each child got a share of the warm clothes and candy, which they happily ate on the spot.

In the Qibray home for children with disabilities, the children performed a holiday show for the alumni and Embassy staff. Some children who had only recently learned to speak recited poems by heart.

“It was the best way to wrap up this year of alumni programs – by helping bring a little joy and happiness to the ones who need it most,” said Alumni Coordinator Sardor Djurabaev.