International Women's Club of Baku (IWC) -Christmas Bazaar

2011 November 09 ( Wednesday )  13:02:36

On Sunday, 20th November, 2011 the IWC Baku will hold its 17th annual Christmas Bazaar in aid of the charities it supports. The event will be held in the Kishmish Hall, at the Hyatt Hotel

The IWC, established in 1994, is an English speaking club that is comprised of over 180 women of diverse nationalities, cultures and backgrounds including members from the local Azeri community.

The core values, of the IWC, are Friendship, Charity and Community.

We aim to offer a warm welcome to ex pat and Azeri women with the objective of developing strong bonds between all members of the club.

With regard to our charity work, over the past 17 years the focus has been heavily directed towards Azerbaijan’s orphanages and child centred organisations. This year our focal point has been training and development for young children culminating in our flagship project, which is the redevelopment of a playground for the children of the Mashtaga Foster Home (MFH), our most ambitious project to date.

There are approximately 180 boys and girls living at MFH, age 6-16 years. Formerly a military camp the grounds have obstacle units, one multi purpose mini asphalt field and a large football field. The first phase of our project is to repair and enhance the existing play area. With the help of volunteers, students from TISA and the Foster home we have scraped and painted the obstacle units to be converted to swings, slides, climbing forts etc and under the voluntary direction of Project Consultants, from MACE International, the large football field is being excavated in preparation for the construction of the infrastructure. The mini field requires fencing and an artificial turf, and preparation is underway.  AFFA Azerbaijan Football Federation are assisting with the supply and install of the artificial turf for the mini football pitch

On the team is Stephen Oates, is a licenced football coach (former Man-U coach) who has agreed to coach the children of Mashtaga on a weekly basis starting with a 10 week football skills development program. The dream is to enter a winning team (s) in the junior league 2012.

Other projects that have received support from the IWC throughout this year are;

Saray day care center - supported by Ministry of Labor and Social Protection  and established by United Aid for Azerbaijan (UAFA) since January 2011, providing daily rehabilitation and family support services for the children with special needs. uafa.org.uk

'Bodysongs' project - for this project the IWC brought the director and head trainer of 'Bodysongs', from New Zealand,  to train people to deliver a innovated ,fun  programme using music and interaction with outstanding therapeutic and educational results, that will help children with a wide range of trauma and disability, in orphanages, refugee centres and community centres in Azerbaijan .

The Baby House - this is an orphanage with young children, infants to 4 year olds The IWC provides volunteers, from amongst its members, and new/good quality second-hand toys for the children.

Birleye Dogru - the IWC assisted with the provision of art materials for the foster children which culminated in an art exhibition held at Parc Bulvar in May 2011. bd-az.org

The IWC has also been involved in assisting with costumes for Azeri Down Syndrome children to participate in the world Cultural Festival in France in December 2011, providing sewing tutors for refugees, to aid self sufficiency, and more recently the setting up of English Coffee mornings with the refugees. We also provide continued support for the Zabrat and Romani orphanages.

Many members of the IWC both Azeri and ex pat give many hours of their own time together with financial support to ensure that these projects are a success.

The majority of funds to support these projects and organisations is raised from a variety of activities and events throughout the year culminating in our largest fundraiser, the Christmas Bazaar. Essentially, the greater the support we receive for the bazaar the more we can help the children affected by the projects.

In a recent speech our President, Jackie Lazarus, reiterating the sentiment of many influential people, stated "The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who are most vulnerable".

The IWC's aim, as part of the Azeri society, is to ensure that some of the vulnerable children of Azerbaijan have the support and facilities to enable them to have a bright future.

For tickets (2 AZN - children under 12 free) or further information on the Christmas Bazaar please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.iwcbaku.org.