In Ust-Kamenogorsk, East Kazakhstan, Hesed opened in 2000. One of the first programs to start working was the Home Care Program. It is always difficult to begin from scratch. It is difficult to recruit the right staff who could work in such a Program. It is a very difficult work to help elderly people. It is difficult not only physically but also psychologically. The Central Hesed from Almaty provided our Program with instructions and guidelines but the work turned out to be much more difficult in reality. Gradually our staff has been forming into a stable highly professional, well trained team. Our community members were very cautious and sometimes suspicious to receive Home Care assistance. The mentality formed during the Soviet times made people prejudiced. It is a very hard and responsible work to serve our clients but we had almost no turnover in our team during these ten years.
Almaty Head Office gathers coordinators of Home Care Program from all regions of Kazakhstan for training seminars every year. We receive a lot of useful information that helps us resolve many issues in our work.

Today our staff consists of seven women. All of them are very hard working and enthusiastic. One of them, Svetlana Bolgova, has been working for ten years. Every day she helps elderly people cope with their problems and have a decent life in spite of the old age. Svetlana Kostina, Elena Karpinskaya, Galina Podrezova, Lyudmila Medonina, Lyudmila Sachenko, Olesya Sycheva are all our team members. For many of our clients they are the only link with the outside world. For some people they are their hands and eyes. The greatest award for these women is the people’s gratitude.
Home Care Program Director Olga Trofimova
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