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IATP News from Central Asia

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December 18, 2004 - January 6, 2005

Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan

TAJIKISTAN

Residents of Panjikent now enjoy
access to IATP’s free services

Journalists Learn to Use Internet at Newly-Opened IATP Access Site in Panjikent, Tajikistan
On December 18, seven journalists participated in a two-hour seminar at the new IATP access site in Panjikent, Tajikistan, to learn how to use the Internet to do their jobs more effectively. On November 22, IATP brought public-access Internet to the city of Panjikent in the Zaravshan river valley between the Zaravshan and Turkistan Mountains. The mountains isolate Panjikent from the rest of the country, as the roads are impassable for several months during the winter. Before the arrival of IATP, the only public Internet access in the city was at an Internet cafe that opened in March, charging two dollars per hour. As the average monthly salary in Panjikent is less than ten dollars a month, the Internet was out of reach for most residents, making IATP especially important to the community. The journalists were taught how to open e-mail accounts, use search engines to find necessary information, and search for popular news websites. Local TV station manager Abdumain Juraev remarked, “We, the journalists of Panjikent, are very happy to have access to modern computer technologies and worldwide information sources through the IATP access site. Thanks to the support of the American people, now we have the opportunity to provide the population of the region with updated information and news.” Through the journalists, the local population will have access to a great deal more information about the outside world than they were previously able to obtain.

Project Coordinator Olimjon Kosimov
and Trainer Shoira Huseinova of
Women of the East prepare materials
for seminars

IATP Resources in Panjikent, Tajikistan, Help Partner Organization Make Linkage
On January 4, Fatima Sharipova, director of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Women of the East, paid a visit to the IATP access site in Panjikent to share some good news. Women of the East is IATP’s partner organization in Panjikent, providing free space and utilities for the access site in addition to serving as partner for the USAID-funded and IREX-administered Civil Society Support Initiative. Because of this, Women of the East staff were first in line to take advantage of IATP’s courses and free Internet access to enhance their work when the access site began operating on November 22. Using IATP resources, Sharipova’s organization signed a two-year collaborative agreement with the Program Development Organization (PDO) on December 7. The mission of PDO, which is based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is to assist in the programmatic and strategic development of NGOs in Central Asia. According to the new agreement, starting in February, PDO representatives will conduct a series of workshops on strategic planning and self-assessment for NGOs in the Panjikent district in order to increase their poverty reduction capacity, efficiency, and sustainability. PDO will also provide special trainings for Women of the East in Tashkent and provide additional consultations through the Internet. As IATP partner, Women of the East now has access to reliable Internet communication to establish new collaborative relationships for the benefit of the general public in this isolated part of Tajikistan.

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TURKMENISTAN

Aina gives practical advice on
starting small businesses

Local Entrepreneur Leads Online Discussion on Small Business in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
On December 24, twelve participants in four IATP access sites across Turkmenistan and one access site in Urgench, Uzbekistan, joined Aina Kekilova (CI 00), an entrepreneur from Ashgabat, for an online discussion entitled “How to Start Your Own Business.” Kekilova has been running her own women’s clothing store, importing designs from Latvia and Turkey, for more than two years. She advised participants in the chat on the steps involved in developing a business plan, including risk assessment, analysis of demand, and budgeting for costs. Dashoguz resident Tazegul Jumayeva wrote to Kekilova,”I have been sewing clothes for people in my neighborhood for many years, and I am thinking of opening my own tailoring shop. Starting a business always implies some kind of risk. I think it will be hard for me to compete with existing shops. Do you think it’s worth taking risk and what should I begin with?” Kekilova replied, “It’s more profitable for an individual entrepreneur like you to work on your own. Operating a shop will cost you a lot of money...you have reached a certain success in your small business, but always strive to improve your products and services; this will attract more and more clients.” In concluding remarks, Kekilova shared a series of tips on how to succeed in business, the most important of which she considers to be, “cut your losses.” Participants exchanged contact information to continue the discussion by e-mail.

Young Physicians Add To Knowledge Online in Dashoguz, Turkmenistan
On December 15, IATP staff conducted a workshop on using the Internet for professional development for six residents at the Dashoguz Drug Clinic at the IATP access site in Dashoguz, Turkmenistan. The young physicians, who are fulfilling their residency requirements after graduation from medical school, came to the IATP access site to prepare for their professional qualifying examination with the help of IATP resources. They were introduced to online search engines and looked through websites on the structure of DNA and on the endoscope, an instrument used in medicine for examination of the gastrointestinal tract. Merdan Halliyev explored a website on infectious diseases and Berdimurat Gurbangeldiyev searched for information on alcohol and drug abuse and treatment for it. All of the information they found online was unavailable from any other source in Dashoguz; the textbooks and journals available in the local library date from the Soviet period. Inspired by what he found on the Internet, Ilmurad Saparmuradov prepared a brochure on stomach ulcers, which he intends to distribute to local clinics. “This workshop enabled me to find the latest information on medicine,” Saparmuradov remarked. “I am grateful to IATP that they provide resources for us to enhance our knowledge. It is very difficult to find up-to-date information on treatments of various infectious diseases, and the Internet is the only place where I can find all I need for my work.”

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KAZAKHSTAN

The website of the Shymkent CITC
is available at www.enter.freenet.kz

Community Internet and Training Center in Shymkent Takes First Step Toward Sustainability
On December 22, IATP posted the new website of the Shymkent Community Internet and Training Center (CITC), which was designed with the collaboration of IATP staff and Gauhar Malkarova, deputy director of the South Kazakhstan Regional Youth Library (SKRYL). SKRYL, the partner organization that provides free space to IATP, is one of two sites in Kazakhstan selected by IATP management to be transformed into a CITC, an access site that is financially viable through contributions from local businesses and modest fees charged to community members using the site. From September 24 to 25, three representatives of SKRYL underwent interactive training in financial management, strategic planning, and fundraising at a conference in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Together they developed a sustainability plan, which will move the access site toward self-sufficiency while maintaining an educational focus, a mission to expand access to the general public, and active participation of alumni. The new website contains detailed information about the CITC’s proposed fee-based services, including the creation of quality websites, business cards, and a variety of computer training courses. The mission statement of the CITC is on the first page of the website: “We do not pursue commercial profit; our goal is much higher – the development of the local community, implementing information technologies in the lives of Kazakhstani residents.” CITC staff will join hands with the local Alumni Advisory Council and assume full responsibility for the access site once the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair’s funding for IATP ends.

NGO Staff Learn to Create Websites in Uralsk, Kazakhstan
On December 30, Kamariya Amanova, director of the local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Women Against AIDS, published the website of her organization after completing a week-long Web design course at the IATP access site in Uralsk, Kazakhstan. The NGO’s mission is to combat the spread of AIDS by promoting awareness about the disease among students, young families, commercial sex workers, and prisoners. For this purpose, the organization frequently conducts seminars, presentations, and follow-up meetings with target groups. IATP staff covered the basics of Web design and helped Amanova prepare material for the website by teaching her how to use photo editing tools to optimize graphics and photographs for online display. The new Web resource describes the goals and activities of Women Against AIDS, and also includes a photo gallery. Amanova commented, "Our NGO has been cooperating with the IATP access site since February 2003, and thanks to the skills we acquired, we are now able to find and work with partners from other cities." IATP trains more than 1600 residents of Kazakhstan every month in the basics of computer and Internet use and Web design.

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UZBEKISTAN

The website of Samarkand State
University’s Economics department is
hosted at http://toyibov.freenet.uz

College Professors in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Create Educational Websites
From December 13 to 15, IATP staff conducted a seminar for 14 teachers from Samarkand State University (SSU) on iWE 1.0, an IATP-developed tool that allows beginning level Web designers to create websites without any knowledge of hypertext markup language (HTML). The seminar resulted in the development of 20 educational websites in both Russian and Uzbek that contained course curriculum, lecture materials, teachers’ background information, and class schedules for students. By the end of the course, Jasur Toyibov created a website for his course on taxation and a group of economics professors created a website for their introductory course. Both websites contain course schedules, a syllabus, and reading lists. The website for the economics course even provides instructions to students on how to set up e-mail accounts in order to maintain communication with their professors. The new websites modernize Samarkand State University’s academic process, improve communication, and increase the efficiency of the institution.

Said Shukurov, a reporter from
the National Information Agency (NIA)
in Andijan, participates in the
discussion

Citizens of Uzbekistan Discuss Electoral System Before Parliamentary Elections
On December 23, 25 citizens of Uzbekistan, including alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs, educators, students, and reporters, met in an online discussion devoted to the December 26 parliamentary elections. Tashpulat Abdazov (PIE 2000), a candidate from the Jizzakh electoral region, was the featured guest. With the December 26 elections, Uzbekistan moved from a unicameral system to a bicameral one, and Abdazov explained what he considers to be the advantages of the new system. He argued that a clear distribution of duties between the two chambers will make the legislative branch function more efficiently and force legislators to take into account the different interests of all the country’s regions. Galina Akopdjanova, the principal of Parvoz Gymnasium in Ferghana, asked, “What contribution do you plan to make in order to build democracy in Uzbekistan, and how long will it take?” Abdazov replied, “The disadvantage is that our country hasn’t ever had a tradition of democracy. According to history, the order of the padishah, an ancient ruler of the country, was the law, and no one dared to argue. That is why our society doesn’t fully understand yet what real democracy should be. What we are going to do in the new parliament is build democratic society step-by-step. This is why I am here online right now to clarify my goals and my future role in the government, and to give truthful information.” The online discussion brought people in Uzbekistan together to promote a healthy discussion of the electoral system and improve communication between voters and candidates.

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KYRGYZSTAN

The official website of Elim School is
available at http://elim.host.net.kg/

Residents Add Seven Websites to Local Web Content in Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan
On October 15, ten local residents posted seven new websites to IATP’s server after a week-long Web design course at the IATP access site in Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan. IATP staff introduced the trainees to the basic features of Web page editors and taught them how to design a website, create links, optimize images for the Web, and create a user-friendly layout. As a result, Larisa Vasilieva created the website of the local branch of Kyrgyz Technical University. Vasilieva is a computer science teacher at the university and wanted to create a complete website about the institution’s history, majors, academic and extracurricular activities, and faculty. Another computer science teacher, Tatyana Stus, posted a website dedicated to Elim, a private school in Kara-Balta. “I have been teaching students of Elim for almost a year at the IATP access site,” Tatyana commented. “However, without Web design skills, I was not able to teach students to create personal and school websites. Now, I developed the school website to integrate it into the e-community of schools in Kyrgyzstan.” The seven new websites bring the total number of resources hosted by IATP in Kyrgyzstan to 2,085, representing nearly 12% of the Web content hosted in the country.

Ludmila demonstrates use of search
engines at the IATP access site in
Mayluu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan

Alumna Leads Seminar for Students on Internet Resources
On December 16, Ludmila Bashirova (CC 04) introduced six students from School No. 4 to Internet resources and search engines at the IATP access site in Mayluu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan. Bashirova led the two-hour session in order to improve the students’ online research skills, with an emphasis on education-related resources. She taught the participants how to use search engines to find useful online materials for studying English, including practice tests. The students visited websites of international youth projects such as KidLink, iEARN, and Friendship through Education, and also set up their own e-mail accounts on IATP’s Web-based service at www.hotmail.kg. “This seminar was very useful for me as I would like to excel in the English language which is hard to do without necessary books and materials. Online Web resources would help me to fill in this shortage and help to pursue my educational goals,” remarked participant Alexandra Galchenko.