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Blankets donated by the Onward Company to Kazakhstan refugees helped them in winter

Roza, Abdurahimov's wife had one month pregnancy when their family had to leave Uzbekistan, and was very upset that her forth child, hopefully, her first boy will be born not in Uzbekistan, her beloved motherland. They came to Kazakhstan in search for asylum, and were waiting for passing all the procedures for status determination for more than eight months. Her child was born in Kazakhstan, in a small little room, which they had to rent with another family with their three children. Roza was so scared that her small baby will be frozen during severe Kazakhstan winter. They had to heat the room with a fire, and blankets which were received from Onward Company were very useful for wrapping a small baby during the severe winter. Now the baby is six month old, and smiles looking at his mother and playing with a blanket. He does not know what will be the decision on the refugee status of her parents in Kazakhstan, but knows for sure that there are people on the Planet who do care. Abdurakhimov family received about 6 blankets, and family of Tojiev who are sharing a room with them received 8 blankets. They used them all over the house, for warming up, as covers for the very limited number of furniture sets.

Blankets were donated by the Onward Company in January 2011 and have been distributed starting from February 1, 2011 to refugees and asylum seekers, orphanages and centers for rehabilitation of disabled persons and to Kazakh Red Crescent Society to improve emergency response capabilities.

Afghan, Chinese Uighur, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Russian and other refugee communities received blankets of Onward Company in the total amount of 1250 items. 450 blankets were reserved for the new comers. Most of refugees used the blankets as mats for sitting and on the floor to keep their feet warm. Some refugees living in shabby housing used blankets placing them on the walls and floors of their temporary shelters for insulation, reflection of heat.

Orphanages and centers for rehabilitation of disabled persons received in total of 500 blankets. They used the blankets as bedcovers and as additional layers in combination with traditional cloth blankets. The blankets targeted all school-aged children in orphanages: 80 girls in Orphanage № 1, 100 girls in Orphanage № 2 and 120 boys in Orphanage № 3.

"Thanks to Onward's donation all these people were able to stay warm throughout the winter season", said Mr. Saber Azam, UNHCR Regional Representative/Regional Coordinator for Central Asia

In order to improve emergency capabilities, UNHCR transferred 1100 blankets for reserve stock to Kazakh Red Crescent Society within the Emergency Response Program.