My name is L. I am a 30 y.o. Kazakh girl, who has lived about 16 years abroad. After I moved back to Kazakhstan I got deeply disappointed by the situation with the street animals here. There are so many of them on the streets and in such bad shape! They are literally trying to survive!
Once I realized the severity of the problem, I started saving as many animals as I could on my own. Unfortunately, it is hardly near enough to make any essential impact. Here is why:
The population of the street animals here is increasing daily while the number of people being part of the solution is not. After getting acquainted with the rest of the volunteers got me I got even more disappointed. I realized that the majority of them have just one goal, making money. Unfortunately, that is the case till today. Honest shelters exist, but they are struggling to make ends meet.
The government so far keeps on funding the public institution (отлов) that catches and kills the street animals in the most inhumane manner. For every animal they catch and kill, they get a financial reward! Volunteers on a daily basis visit the premises of that institution to rescue as many animals as possible. But, they cannot save them all! While this institution is ongoingly funded by the government, the volunteers are paying from their own salaries.
The Foster project has one mission - to decrease, if not eliminate, the harm caused to the animals by people. With this as an axis, we aim at three certain goals:
- to save as many animals as possible from the street life;
- to raise awareness across the citizens in Kazakhstan;
- to organize the volunteer efforts in order to maximize their impact.
Organization and persistence. That is what "Foster" is about. Organizing and multiplying the volunteer efforts while supporting the existing volunteers. The upper goal is to finally implement a similar type of organization at a national, and hopefully, governmental level. To achieve that, most probably years will pass. A lot of energy, resources will be spent. There will be a lot of negative moments. Certain people are already doing it. But, they are too few.
It's gonna be tough. It's up to you if you want to be a part of the solution!
