28.03.2025

AYALA Charity Foundation summarized results of its work for 2024. More than 2 billion tenge was allocated to support healthcare, education and social assistance in Kazakhstan. The key projects include assistance to families suffered from floods, support of medicine, development of educational initiatives, and introduction of advanced technologies in the field of healthcare.

New housing for flood victims

One of the largest projects of AYALA Foundation in 2024 was support of 78 families in Kostanay region whose houses were destroyed by floods. With the support of ADD Capital these families were able to move into modern apartments within the shortest possible time. The average cost of one apartment was 22 million tenge. Aigerim Musanova, a mother with many children, who had lived in Altynsarino village and whose house had completely gone under water, was one of those who moved into a new apartment:

— Dishes, furniture – it was all flooded. All the outbuildings went underwater. I’m very grateful to everyone who has helped in this situation, — Aigerim said.

Add a photo of Aigerim from InBsuiness website about the transfer of the apartments in Kostanay.

In addition, the funds raised from hundreds of caring people from different countries through the international crowdfunding platforms Benevity, GlobalGiving and TOOBA, were used for the support of the secondary school in Altynsarino village, Kostanay region. 70 children were provided with stationery supplies, and the school was equipped with eight interactive monitors for classes in physics, mathematics, chemistry and literature and with new sports equipment for the gym.

I Can See the World: Children Who Have Escaped Blindness

I Can See the World is a flagship project of AYALA Foundation aimed at reducing visual disability in premature babies in Kazakhstan. In 2024, the Foundation raised over 104 million tenge and donated 4 retinal cells to the perinatal centers in Almaty, Aktobe, Atyrau and Shymkent with the support of Halyk Bank, Almaty Marathon, Tengizchevroil and Industry Lux. 1,667 children were examined with the use of this equipment during the year. The eyesight of 133 children with retinopathy was saved — all of them were operated on in time with the laser. Five medical institutions have been provided with the drug Lucentis which helps doctors in preparing newborns for ophthalmological surgeries. The  Center for  pediatric emergency care in Almaty was equipped with a modern laser with the support of Chevron Company. The ophthalmologists of the center have completed in-depth training in India, and now they can perform complex vitreoretinal surgery operations in children under one year old. This means that parents no longer need to seek funds for travelling abroad for operations — they can receive all the necessary medical care as part of the Compulsory Social Health Insurance in Kazakhstan.

— In the Atyrau region, we have achieved a result that we are proud of together with the ophthalmologist of the Regional Perinatal Center. No cases of blindness in premature babies were recorded there during the past year. This is a result of the collective work of doctors and invaluable support of our common efforts from Tengizchevroil, the partner of the fund, — Aidan Suleimenova, the Founder and President of AYALA Foundation, says.

In just 3 years of implementation of I Can See the World project, AYALA Foundation together with its partners managed to reduce the rate of visual disability among premature babies to almost zero and to provide almost half of the perinatal centres in the country with necessary diagnostic equipment with the use of which more than 11,000 newborns have already undergone early ophthalmological screening. For this purpose, the Foundation raised over 500 million tenge, donated 10 retinal cameras, 6 laser devices, and 16 ophthalmoscopes. Moreover, neonatal ophthalmological service, which was simply not available in Kazakhstan before the project was launched in 2021, has started working in state medical centres.

Education as a tool for change

For all 18 years of its work, the AYALA Charity Foundation places great emphasis on advanced training of medical specialists, because this approach allows saving the lives and health of children in Kazakhstan without the need to go abroad to foreign doctors for help. In 2024, expert practitioners from 14 countries, including Canada, the USA, the UAE, Australia and South Korea, took part in the educational activities organized by the Foundation. As part of the AYALA Academy program, more than 2,300 medical professionals from all over Kazakhstan have completed training in two conferences with participation of international experts.

— Investing in the knowledge of Kazakhstani physicians is the most sustainable and effective format of social responsibility and philanthropy, — Aidan Suleimenova emphasizes. — In our educational projects for doctors — conferences, master classes, workshops — we give preference exclusively to the practical format. This is the only way to convert the knowledge into expertise that remains with the doctors for their entire professional activity forever.

An excellent example of such a transformative change is the Fetal Surgery project the Foundation managed to implement in just one year with the support of the network of GASENERGY fuel stations. At the beginning of the year, a team of 9 fetal surgeons was trained, and the first intrauterine operation was performed in June at the Center for Perinatology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery in Almaty. Then, in July, another successful operation for correction of the pathology of multifetal pregnancy took place in the Department of Fetal Medicine at the UMC clinic. Both departments have been equipped with modern fetal equipment thanks to AYALA Foundation.

Over 2024, 35 intrauterine surgery operations were successfully performed in Kazakhstan which saved the lives of 30 children. The fetal surgery project has become a breakthrough in domestic medicine. In March this year, two mothers visited AYALA Foundation together with their twin daughters. The birth of the girls has become possible only thanks to fetal operations.

— We implement our medical projects to support the initiatives of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan aimed at reducing infant mortality and disability. We are proud of the trust of the Department of Maternal and Child Health to our Foundation and we are happy to help the state in the development of domestic medicine.  Everything that we have been able to implement in 2024 together with our partners makes the state healthcare even more reliable, efficient and accessible to all citizens of Kazakhstan,’ — Aidan Suleimenova notes.

The work of the AYALA Foundation is always about systemic change. New medical technologies, educational programs and partnership initiatives — all these have an unnoticeable and positive impact on thousands of families in Kazakhstan every day.