Bringing up a healthy and harmoniously developed generation is one of the priorities of Uzbekistan’s development strategy. Significant funds are allocated annually from the state budget for this purpose, and targeted measures are being taken under the relevant programs. Mutually trusting cooperation with a number of countries and international organizations serves to ensure the effectiveness of reforms in this area.
The international charity organization Friedensdorf International is one such partners which has been providing humanitarian assistance. Below you will find an interview with Claudia Peppmüller, the Executive Director of this organization.
– Ms. Claudia, we know that the international charity organization Friedensdorf International, which has fifty years of history, today cooperates with more than thirty countries around the world. These numbers aren’t small, are they? In general, can you tell us about the main goals of the organization and the factors that have led to its effective operation for many years and its high prestige in the international arena?
– In 1967, the founders of Friedensdorf International did not think that the organization would need to exist for such a long time. Over the last 54 years we were able to help children from various countries all over the world. Unfortunately, there are still so many children in war and crisis areas who need urgent medical help. At the moment we help children from around ten different nations with individual medical aid and projects to improve the medical infrastructure in their home countries.
The main goal of our organization is to give children the chance to recover from their wounds and illnesses as they cannot be treated in their home countries. We think that only healthy children are able to have a future. This help is only possible because several hospitals in Germany are treating the children for free. Furthermore, it is important to work with reliable partner organizations because they know the conditions in the countries. We are therefore very thankful for the successful cooperation with our Uzbek partner “Soglom avlod uchun” and especially Dr. Jumaboy Nurov.
In the long run our goal is that an adequate medical treatment is possible in the home countries and the children do not have to be separated from their families.
– It is known that Friedensdorf International established cooperation with Uzbekistan in 2002. Can you tell us more about the main purpose and scope of this cooperation, the results achieved over the years?
– The cooperation actually began because of a coincidence. In 2002, we chartered an airplane to pick up sick and injured children from Afghanistan. The Uzbek embassy had to give the permission for the overflight over their country and that was how we got into contact. The Uzbek embassy contacted “Soglom Avlod Uchun”, which later became the partner organization of Friedensdorf International. This cooperation is very successful and we could already achieve a lot for Uzbek children. We established four projects, in which children with different medical conditions can get surgeries: Cleft lip and palate, orthopedic problems, plastic problems (f. e. conditions after burns) and since 2015 heart surgery. Our main goal with these projects is, that the children don’t have to leave their home country to get a medical treatment. Until today there are still some children, who have to come to Friedensdorf in Germany. We observe, that many of the former patients, who are already home again, now have a profession where they help others. They want to give the help back, that they received – I find this heartwarming.
– We are aware that a project on surgical treatment of children with congenital heart disease has been implemented in Uzbekistan since 2015 at the expense of the Friedensdorf International grant. But the question arises, why were children with congenital heart defects chosen? Has the number of births with such a defect increased, or has the number of requests for help increased? And what results are being achieved in practice?
– Worldwide there are children who are born with congenital heart diseases. Unfortunately, for German hospitals it is not possible to treat children with heart diseases for free. Therefore, we are very happy that we could implement a project in Uzbekistan for surgical treatment of children with congenital heart disease. Those children do not have to come to Germany for their medical treatment and can stay with their families. We also have a cooperation with India where more complicated congenital heart diseases are able to be treated. Until today we were able to help over 550 children with congenital heart disease.
– In January 2019, during his official visit to Germany, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev awarded the international charity organization Friedensdorf International with the II degree Order “For Healthy Generation” for active participation in the healthcare of children in Uzbekistan. This proves once again that Uzbekistan’s close friendly relations not only with the organization, but also with Germany are bearing fruit, right?
– First of all, I want to thank President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. We are very thankful and honored to have received this award. It wouldn’t have been possible without our partner organization and it is as much their effort, as it is ours. When I visited the award ceremony, I was impressed by the variety of cooperations between Uzbekistan and Germany that already exist or are in planning. We observe that Uzbekistan is opening up in many aspects, for example for tourists. Our expectation is, that the medical sector will develop in the future and someday all children will get an adequate medical treatment in their home country.
– The coronavirus pandemic, which last year left the whole world in a complicated and confusing situation, still confronts many countries with various economic and social problems. How does the pandemic, in particular, affect the activities of Friedensdorf International, its goals and plans?
– The pandemic had a severe effect on our help for sick and injured children. Since March 2020, the situation in German hospitals and the travel limitations didn’t allow us to pick up new children from our partner countries. Now, in May 2021, the first 15 children came from Uzbekistan to Germany for their urgent medical treatment.
Another big fear was, that we wouldn’t be able to bring the recovered children home. Luckily, this was not the case and we could still fly many young patients back to their families. Now we are slowly starting to catch up and help all the children who had to wait for their treatment during the pandemic.
For many years, we have the problem that German hospitals are getting financially unable to treat the children from Friedensdorf. As a reaction to that, we built a surgery room in our children’s home in Oberhausen. Now we have the possibility to perform small surgeries with the help of volunteering doctors. We hope to help many more children in that way.
The help of Friedensdorf International is financed by donations. We were afraid that the pandemic would lead to less donations but our donors proved us wrong. We received so much solidarity, that we are certainly able to continue our work in the future.
– Within the framework of cooperation with Uzbekistan, how many and what kind of children with birth defects will be treated by the organization in German clinics this year?
– Within the framework of cooperation with Uzbekistan, mainly children with congenital urological defects are being treated in German hospitals. Unfortunately, there are only a few clinics who are specialized in pediatric urology. Besides our surgery project for congenital heart disease we could also implement a project for orthopedic congenital defects in 2008 and for surgeries of cleft lip and palate in 2003. Those children also do not have to leave their families and can be treated in Uzbekistan. Until today we were able to provide surgeries for nearly 1.700 children with orthopedic congenital defects and for nearly 3.500 children with cleft lip and palate.
– We truly thank you for your invaluable contribution to sharing happiness and joy with our children. Thank you for a sincere conversation!
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