Internet Access and Training Program (IATP)

IATP News from Central Asia

April 1-30, 2005

KYRGYZSTAN

Farhod Abdurahmonov, a student
from Kulyab State University, posts
questions at the IATP access site in
Kulyab, Tajikistan

Citizens of Central Asian States Assess Economic Factors in Relation to Revolution in Kyrgyzstan
On April 21, more than 55 business owners, scholars, college students, experts from the media and NGOs, and alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs gathered at IATP access sites in 40 cities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to participate in an online discussion on the economic preconditions and consequences of the recent political events in Kyrgyzstan. Following elections widely believed to be fraudulent, a group of protestors looted businesses in Bishkek. In 24 hours, they caused $20 million in damages to stores, currency exchange booths, supermarkets, and offices. The governments and business partners of neighboring Central Asia republics grew hesitant about economic integration and trade because of the turmoil. Therefore, IATP staff organized and moderated a chat between four of the five Central Asian countries on the revolution and economic integration. Participants discussed how Kyrgyzstan’s poor economy, marred by corruption and poverty, was the main impetus for the regime change. Djamshed Pulotov, an acting manager of Agroinvestbank branch in Kanibadam, Tajikistan, asked, “How is the situation with the banks? Can they give large loans to those businesses devastated [by the lootings]?” Lidia Lindarenko, director of Libra, a consumer rights protection organization in Jalalabat, Kyrgyzstan, replied, “[Some] banks are giving credit with no interest for business development to those who suffered.” Ainura Cholponkulova (CI 98) from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, noted, “Neighbors [of Kyrgyzstan] are helping already. Nobody [from other CA countries] wants a chain reaction of instability to take place. That’s why geopolitically the neighbors are interested in political and economic stability in Kyrgyzstan. In politics, all the questions are solved pragmatically from the point of national and regional security.” The online discussion allowed people in Central Asia to think about the economic relationship with politics and ways to stabilize the region.

IATP and Business Leaders

More than 9,000 business representatives have registered for IATP services;
IATP has trained almost 5,000 businesspeople in various information technology skills;
IATP offers many specialized training courses on business skills including: Integrating Information Technology into the Workplace, Creating Effective Presentations, and Web Design for Businesses.

DL consultant
Anar Madalieva (CC 04) receives
feedback from her first DL students
at the IREX office in Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan

Distance Learning Consultant Completes First Module, Meets DL Course Trainees in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
On April 7, Anar Madalieva (CC 04), general manager of Koldo, a local business support center, met with 10 students in her distance learning (DL) course in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Madalieva’s eight-week DL course covers constructive business communication, teamwork, positive feedback, and public speaking. She started teaching the first module of Effective Business Communication Skills on March 14, for the first time, and has already introduced her 25 participants to the definition, aims, types, levels, and psychological aspects of communication. She has also administered an online forum for questions and a test. Madalieva used the face-to-face meeting with the 10 participants residing in Bishkek to review the course thus far and receive feedback to adjust the course content. She will now add supplementary reading materials with real-life examples and improve the clarity of her materials. Some of her materials come directly from her experience gained at Fitchburg College in Massachusetts during a month-long business development visit. For the past three months, she and four other IATP DL consultants learned to create DL courses that they completed and posted to IATP’s free DL portal.

UZBEKISTAN

chat
IATP Program Assistant Sogdiana
Ajibenova assists Dean with
Russian typing at the main office in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Residents Discuss USAID-funded AIDS Project at IATP Access Sites in Uzbekistan
On April 6, twenty-four NGO representatives, alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs, and epidemiologists joined Kevin Dean, health project management assistant at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), from nine IATP access sites across Uzbekistan for an online discussion on initiatives to prevent HIV/AIDS in Uzbekistan. IATP staff and Natalya Polezhaeva, the leader of Semya i Deti (Family and Children), an NGO that supports vulnerable groups in society, organized the event. The participants asked Dean questions about the USAID-sponsored Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) and HIV/AIDS projects and assistance they provide to NGOs supporting the HIV/AIDS-infected population. According to official Uzbekistan statistics, there were more than 1,900 registered cases of HIV in 2004, and the annual grow rate is 190%. Gulnur Akhunjanova, member of the Reproductive Health Center in Tashkent, asked Dean, “Unfortunately, the majority of HIV-infected people try to hide and refuse to receive any help because they are afraid being stigmatized. How do you think the problem of stigma and discrimination in our country can be solved?” Dean replied, “Gulnur, we can always help individuals by showing compassion… But on the societal level we need to educate people to do the same and not to stand aside from HIV carriers.” The participants also discussed the main symptoms of HIV and code of ethics and confidentiality maintenance at AIDS centers. Using information technology to unite active citizens, IATP access sites raised HIV/AIDS awareness.

Alumna
Alima Sadykova (CC 05) (in purple)
teaches female orphans to use a
mouse at the IATP access site in
Jizzakh, Uzbekistan

Alumni Lead Seminars on Internet Basics for Orphans and Students from Rural Area in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan
From April 18 to 25, Baurjan Eskarayev (FLEX 04) and Alima Sadykova (CC 05) conducted five, seminars on computer and Internet basics for seven secondary school students from Dustlik, a village in Jizzakh region, and ten orphans from a local orphanage at the IATP access site in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan. Neither the orphanage in Jizzakh nor the schools in Dustlik have classrooms equipped with computers. In fact, Dustlik, which is 32 miles from Jizzakh, does not have access to Internet, and the schools do not teach computer courses due to the lack of computers and financial support. The children do not even have basic computer skills. In April, IATP staff encouraged alumni, who had gained inspiration for community service in the United States, to conduct the seminars for the youngsters from different rural areas. Peace Corps Volunteer Amy Sweeney, who teaches these students English at a school in Dustlik, paid half of students’ transportation expenses, and the students were able to cover the other half to get to the city. During Eskarayev’s and Sadykova’s seminars, the participants learned how to use computers, the Internet, and search engines, e-mail, and online resources for educational purposes. Students visited the online encyclopedia at http://krugosvet.ru where they could find information on history, humanities, culture and education, medicine, science and technology, environment, and geography that can be useful for their papers, tests, and home assignments. After learning how to use e-mail, the orphans wrote letters to Guzal Azamatova, a current UGRAD fellow studying at the University of Wisconsin in Marinette. Azamatova is from Jizzakh and stays in touch with IATP staff. She agreed to share her experience of studying and living in the United States with the orphans from her hometown via an e-mail relationship. Sadykova commented after the seminar, “We want to continue teaching children and orphans computer and Internet basics, because it is an addition to the poor rural school curriculum, helps them do better in their classes, and encourages them to get more knowledge in information technology.” Thanks to IATP, alumni could give school kids the basic computer and Internet knowledge they need today for their educational development.

TURKMENISTAN

Professor Stone checks out IATP DL
consultant Dina Baybarodina’s DL
course on journalism at the alumni
resource center in Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan

Alumni Discuss Global Ecological Issues with Expert Online
On April 13, IATP united 20 alumni US government-sponsored exchange programs for a 90-minute online discussion on global environmental problems of the 21st century with American Professor Richard Stone at IATP access sites in Ashgabat, Mary, Dashoguz, and Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan. IATP staff moderated the discussion, initiated by the US Embassy in Ashgabat, to give alumni, from all regions of Turkmenistan a chance to speak with an American scientist and environmental specialist. Stone is the Asia news editor for Science Magazine, the weekly journal for the international scientific community read by approximately 500,000 scientists and policy makers around the world each week. Currently he is a Fulbright fellow in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he teaches science journalism at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and prepares reports for Science Magazine on scientific activities throughout Central Asia. Maysa Allaberdiyeva (FLEX 02) asked, “How can we overcome disasters caused by Ecological problems?" Stone replied, “Disasters often are preventable... Even the worst affects of last December’s tsunami could have been prevented if there was an early warning system in place in the Indian Ocean.” In the course of the online discussion, Professor Stone also answered questions on global warming, negative consequences of industrialization, holes in the ozone layer, air pollution, and ecological problems of Caspian and Aral seas. The online discussion provided alumni with the unique opportunity to ask an international expert various questions about today’s local and global environmental issues.

Dina Bayborodina’s DL course on
journalism hosted on the IATP
portal

DL Students Complete First Step of Journalism Course
On April 29, forty-four distance learning (DL) students from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom completed the first stage of Dina Bayborodina’s DL course entitled “The Kitchen of Journalism” that she has been teaching from IATP’s DL portal at www.dl.iatp.kz since March 10. Bayborodina is a retired journalist who received a degree in journalism from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia and worked as a journalist in Turkmenistan for more than 25 years for Turkmenskaya Iskra (Turkmen Spark) newspaper. Bayborodina used the first stage of the DL course to allow students to adapt to the interactive online learning environment and her teaching methods and to gauge the students’ comprehension of the subject. Her first stage used online lectures, polls, quizzes, and forums to engage the students, and she focused on forums to enhance the students’ use of critical thinking and writing skills. She created special forum topics, such as how to interact with media audiences, and each student could leave his or her feedback or launch a new discussion. Olga Glushenkova, a Turkmen citizen studying at American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, started her own forum using the meaning of happiness as a theme. She received 23 responses, which gave Glushenkova the opportunity to practice writing to an audience and see how readers respond. Glushenkova remarked, "Before [taking this course], I was trying to write poems and stories on my own without any knowledge of writing techniques. Thanks to the DL course, I have had a great chance to try for myself as a journalist and I am proud of my first trial run.” The students will learn more about what it takes to be a good journalist after they complete the second and third stages of the DL course by July 31.

TAJIKISTAN

chat
Ekaterina Frolova (UGRAD 04) asks
questions to chat speaker Oleg
Panfilov at the Alumni Resource
Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Citizens of Tajikistan Discuss Local Journalism Challenges Online

On April 26, IATP brought together more than 17 journalists, journalism students, alumni of US government exchange programs, and NGO representatives at six access sites throughout Tajikistan for an online discussion on local journalism challenges with Oleg Panfilov, the director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES) in Moscow, Russia. Initiated and moderated by IATP staff in Khujand, the two-hour discussion covered a wide range of issues, such as the rights of journalists, government censorship of the media, the state of media, and opportunities for self-actualization for journalists in Tajikistan. Panfilov, who was born and worked for more than 10 years in Tajikistan, has 30 years of experience in journalism and human rights with major media outlets around the world, including Radio Liberty. He has published more than 20 books and 200 articles and written eight screen plays. Since Tajikistan gained independence in 1991, more than 150 registered private and nongovernmental newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations have sprouted up. However, journalists in Tajikistan still face hostile reactions from the government when writing any view questioning a position held by the government, and recently several private newspapers such as Ruzi Nav (New Day) and Nerui Sukhan (Power of Word) have been shut down after publishing critical articles. Taking part in the online discussion from Moscow, Panfilov fielded questions from participants regarding the press, journalistic research, current state, and the future of the media in Tajikistan. Iftikhor Mirshakar, a journalist from Badakhshan newspaper, was concerned with what journalists should do when their articles are rejected due to government criticism both in state and in private publications. Panfilov encouraged journalists to continue looking for other opportunities to publish their stories. In the context of government control over the media activity in Tajikistan, the IATP event contributed to an enhanced understanding of the significance of a free press.

Correspondent Valentina
Kondrasheva (left) from Asia Plus
newspaper interviews McCarthy
after the chat

Citizens of Tajikistan Discuss Visa Regulations with US Embassy Official Online
On April 14, more than 26 people, including students, journalists, representatives of commercial and nonprofit organizations, and alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs gathered in nine IATP access sites across Tajikistan for an online discussion on US visa policy and visa application procedures for residents of Tajikistan with Consular Officer Evan McCarthy from the US Embassy. The need for the chat comes from the many residents interested in traveling to the United States who have questions. It became even more necessary after an April Fool’s Day joke article published in Asia Plus newspaper announced the elimination of visa regimes between Tajikistan and the United States and resulted in a flood of calls to the Embassy. During the two-hour online discussion moderated by IATP staff, participants asked more than 25 questions touching different aspects of US visa policy. Haramgul Jamolova, a journalist from Tajik Radio, asked about the types of visas issued by US Embassies and whether there are privileges for getting visas for representatives of NGOs that promote democracy. McCarthy replied, “There are no privileges for anyone in the visa system. Visas are issued in a wide variety of cases depending on the citizen’s compliance with visa laws. Everything depends on the concrete situation and specifics of each case.” During the online discussion, McCarthy referred participants to use websites of US Embassies in Russia and in Kazakhstan as an additional resource for the most recent information and documentation on US visa policy and procedures. Four national and local media outlets including Varorud Information-Analytical Agency with an audience of more than 50,000 people and Asia Plus radio that reaches an area with more than half a million people covered the event and the full text of the chat is posted to IATP’s server at www.iatpevents.freenet.tj for all interested citizens of Tajikistan. IATP frequently hosts chats with US Embassy officials on a variety of topics, helping to discuss and clarify aspects of its mission with people throughout the country.

KAZAKHSTAN

IATP Supports Distance Learning Course on Business Planning
On April 6, Aigul Toksanova finished teaching the third of five modules of her ten-week distance learning (DL) course on business planning to 20 students, entrepreneurs, and NGO representatives from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Toksanova is a professor of marketing and management at the Ryskulov Kazakh Economic University in Astana. She created the course after finishing IATP’s Design and Facilitation of DL Courses (DFDLC) course and is offering her course free-of-charge through IATP’s DL portal at www.dl.iatp.kz. Toksanova transformed face-to-face course materials into virtual lectures that use online forums, chats, and exams. The participants have already learned what is in an effective business plan in the first two modules. In her third module, the students learned how to research their target market and develop a marketing plan. Most participants are either seniors in college students or would-be entrepreneurs looking to start up news businesses. As residents of Central Asia figure out how to make money in a free market economy, distance education provides a free opportunity to prepare for the harsh conditions of market.

presenter
Bibigul Shagiyeva from Ust-
Kamenogorsk explains how to
develop an advertising campaign to
librarians in Shymkent, Kazakhstan

IATP Partner from Ust-Kamenogorsk Shares Sustainable Development Experience with Colleagues in Shymkent, Kazakhstan
From April 6 to 7, IATP administrator Bibigul Shagiyeva and the director of the East Kazakhstan Regional Library (EKRL) Khabiba Akzhigitova (IV 00) from Ust-Kamenogorsk held a two-day seminar on sustainable development for 12 representatives of the South Kazakhstan Regional Youth Library (SKRYL) in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. EKRL and SKRYL are the two partner organizations selected by IATP management to begin covering the site operation costs normally covered by ECA funds. These Community Internet and Training Centers (CITCs) continue to provide free Internet access and training but charge modest fees from community members using the site outside of IATP’s regular working hours. Thanks to its progressive administration, EKRL has been successful in moving toward sustainability by providing high-quality, fee-based services to meet the growing public demand. EKRL runs a Web studio and offers a wide variety of specialized computer training courses, serving up to 500 users per month. Shagiyeva started the workshop with a discussion on how information technology (IT) can assist librarians, and how they can integrate IT into their regular work and into the management of the CITC. During the second day of the workshop, Shagiyeva explained how every librarian in each department needs the Internet, and she offered a seminar on online library resources. Nagima Tuleusheva, who is in charge of the SKRYL periodicals, realized the Internet has electronic versions of newspapers and magazines that are not available in the library. Participants also analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the library, which helped them to discover areas that needed improvement. Lastly, Shagiyeva shared her own library’s advertising strategy and showed them the flyers and booklets they use. The librarians created an advertising strategy and advertisements that address the needs of their target market for improving the CITC’s image and promoting its activities. Akzhigitova spent the second day working one-on-one with SKRYL director Kulyaim Nuraliyeva. She explained ways to motivate employees, how the Internet helps professional growth, professional development at other libraries, and the legal aspects of fee-based services. Inspired by the workshop, Nuraliyeva suggested they hold a weekly staff meeting, specifically aimed at helping employees fulfill sustainability goals. For most librarians in Kazakhstan, learning ways to work efficiently and reach out to markets is completely new, but through training support, they are preparing to continue IATP’s work and better serve their communities.