Internet Access and Training Program (IATP)

Events in Tajikistan

On July 20, the IATP access site in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, will host a workshop on using information technologies in conducting effective public awareness campaigns about the problems of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS by representatives of the NGO Youth Power, a center that works with at-risk youth.

On July 27, IATP will host a countrywide online chat entitled, “How to Fight Corruption in Tajikistan” with representatives of government agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, media, and the general public.

Events in Azerbaijan

From July 3 to 14, Administrator Assistant Ulviyya Bayramova will conduct graphics editing and Web design courses for a group of librarians participating in the Regional Library Development Program (RLDP) at the IATP access site in Baku, Azerbaijan.

On July 19, IATP will host a countrywide online chat entitled, “How to Prevent Contagious Diseases” in the Azeri language with Safiyya Aliyeva and Samaya Etibarova, medical experts from Ali-Bayramli, Azerbaijan.

Baktybek Jekshenov (left) answers
participants’ questions from the office
of Youth Project in Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstann

Residents of Kyrgyzstan Discuss Youth Development in Online Chat
On June 2, over 24 representatives of international and local NGOs, governmental agencies, educational institutions, and alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs participated in a two-hour online discussion on the challenges facing young people in Kyrgyzstan from six IATP access sites across the country, moderated by Kanagat Alyshbaev, a UN volunteer. IATP team’s collaboration with the staff of Youth Project made it possible to organize the chat with Baktybek Jekshenov, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Youth Project, funded by the Japanese Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), works with established organizations in Kyrgyzstan to increase youth involvement in healthy living campaigns, sports and cultural activities, income generation projects through tourism, and trainings on project management and information technology for development. Jekshenov remarked, “During the 15 years of the country’s sovereignty, youth development policy has been losing its importance and status…today, young people make up approximately 30% of the country’s total population, which is almost 2 million residents.” Mr. Jekshenov concluded, “One of the best ways to develop youth is to give them not satisfactory, but quality education, which requires many resources. For this we need to train highly-qualified teachers. Secondly, we need to equip schools with necessary resources, including books and furniture. An urban-to-rural rotation of teachers would be another tool for educating youth.” Young people are essential to Kyrgyzstan’s processes of social mobilization, poverty reduction, and decentralized local government. By hosting this online chat, IATP and the Youth Project helped citizens discuss reforms undertaken by local governments and assess national youth policy.

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UKRAINE

Maria Kostsova moderates the online
discussion from the IATP access
site in Sevastopol

Eurasian Residents Discuss Gender Issues in IATP Online Chat
On June 8, over 20 employees of nonprofit organizations, educators, alumni, and other interested citizens gathered at IATP access sites throughout Kazakhstan and Ukraine to discuss gender issues and policies in Eurasian countries. Maria Kostsova, manager of the Women Alternatives Training Center funded under the Democracy Grants Program of the US Embassy in Ukraine, moderated the chat from the IATP access site in Sevastopol, Ukraine. Kostsova started the online discussion with a presentation of statistics related to participation of women in the political life of the city; in particular, she stated that only 20% of the members of the Sevastopol City Council are women. The participants shared their opinions on inclusion of women in the political life of their local communities and resolving gender-related issues. Elmira Satybekova, a staff member of Bereke, a nonprofit organization from Kazakhstan, remarked, “I think that we bring up the question incorrectly, the point is not in increasing the number of women in government, but in correct understanding of equity between men and women.” Then the participants discussed how to help women leaders implement their initiatives and how to encourage women to become leaders, for example, through women training centers. They also paid attention to social stereotypes implying that women should do housekeeping and raise children while men should participate in political activity. The participants also presented Web resources on the topic. By sponsoring this online discussion, IATP provided an opportunity to Eurasian residents to discuss problems and achievements related to gender equality and establish contacts with each other.

The website of IATP’s partner
library in Sevastopol won first prize
in an international contest

Website of IATP Partner in Sevastopol Wins First Prize in International Contest
On June 18, the Sevastopol Central Library for Children (SCLC), which hosts and partners with the IATP access site in Sevastopol, Ukraine, won first prize in a contest of electronic resources on environmental issues. The contest was held within the framework of the 13th international conference “Crimea-2006” organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of Russia, the International Renaissance Foundation, and other Ukrainian and foreign institutions from June 10 to 18 for 1800 librarians from 30 countries. SCLC’s website was recognized as the best among 24 library websites dedicated to environmental studies and protection from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The website was created by a group of library employees and posted to the IATP server in 2002. It contains information about organizations working for environmental protection in the regions and their activities, lists of books and links on the topic, and other useful information. Previously, the librarians attended IATP trainings and consultations on Web design and learned a common web programming language and use of visual website editors, and learned how to post resources to a server, scan and edit graphics. Due to IATP trainings and partnership with the IATP access site, the library had the opportunity to provide information to local residents and promote environmental activities in the region by using information technology. The website is among 2,777 websites hosted on the IATP server in Ukraine.

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TURKMENISTAN

Chat moderator Jennet Orayeva makes
a presentation about IATP’s work with
disabled people at the Alumni Resource
Center in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Disabled Citizens Discuss International Web Portal Online
On June 23, following an online IATP forum that took place on April 3, 13 disabled IATP users and those who work with them gathered at IATP access sites for an online discussion on creating and developing international web portal for the people with disabilities moderated by IATP staff. Although they have recently gained many social benefits, very often disabled people are still viewed as a clearly demarcated minority. The aim of the chat was to find ways to attract international public attention to issues facing people with disabilities, search for opportunities for international collaboration in helping the disabled and create database of disabled people to be posted online. Upon completing trainings at the IATP access site in Ashgabat, a group of disabled athletes launched the website Overcoming on March 9, intending to show the development and achievements of disabled athletes in Turkmenistan and provide information about the lives of people with special needs. At the end of the training, disabled athlete Meylis Karpayev remarked, “I learned the basics of computer use, how to create documents, edit texts, and save information to various media. I never realized how helpful it is in terms of communication with others.” The online chat supported the development of a network of people with disabilities, encouraged them to participate in the social life of their communities, promoted positive attitudes towards disabled people among the public, and increased their opportunities for acquiring new experience and confidence.

Arts Professionals Exchange Ideas on Personal Websites Online
On June 14, IATP sponsored an online discussion entitled, “Web Development for Preservation of Culture,” featuring the famous Turkmen cinematographer Sapar Mollaniyazov, for more than 40 filmmakers, journalists, artists, webmasters, and alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, and Armenia. The primary goal of the event was to give artists an opportunity to learn from each other’s experience in creating personal websites, and discuss their impact on the development of cultural life of their countries. The website Echo (www.iatp.edu.tm/eho) was posted to the IATP server in Turkmenistan on March 6 by Mollaniyazov after he completed Web design courses at the IATP access site in Ashgabat. The website includes Mollaniyazov’s biography, information on his contributions to the development of Turkmen cinematography, and a list of the films that the well-known cinematographer directed. At the beginning of the discussion, Mollaniyazov shared his experience in reviving national traditions and restoration of ancient monuments. Mollaniyazov stated that a personal website makes the author’s works quickly and easily accessible throughout the world, which contributes to the exchange of cultural values and makes the cultural heritage accessible to future generations. Aliya Kalizhanova, Administrator of the Independent Internet Center in Semey, Kazakhstan, concluded, “Integrating the Internet into our professional activity is of great importance for creative people. While few film directors have a positive attitude toward information technology, Mollaniyazov encourages availability of cultural information online, since it will bridge the gap between cultures.” The online discussion enabled participants to learn the basic process of creating a website, discuss the role of the Internet and information technologies in developing the cultural heritage of countries, and discover the importance of accessibility of cultural information online.

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GEORGIA

Lia Mataradze, teacher at an
orphanage, posts her questions in
an online chat from the Independent
Internet Center in Kutaisi, Georgia.

Citizens Discuss Child Care and Protection Issues Online
On June 5, more than 30 parents and representatives of government and nonprofit organizations working on youth issues from Tbilisi, Khashuri, Telavi, Batumi, Kutaisi and Gori, Georgia, gathered online to discuss protection of children’s rights in the country with Tamta Golubiani, head of the Child Care Department of the Ministry of Education and Science. To begin the online discussion, Golubiani delivered a brief presentation on the current situation regarding children’s protection and development in Georgia and activities carried out by the Ministry and international organizations such as the United Nations Children's Fund to promote children's rights. Teacher Lia Mataradze from the Kutaisi orphanage asked, “What activities is the government carrying out at the moment to address the issue of homeless children, and are there enough funds available to solve the problem?” Golubiani replied, “I can’t say that funds are vast, but there will always be sufficient money if the goodwill of government will exist to address the problem.” She added, “the Ministry is implementing a rehabilitation program, which aims either to return homeless children to their real parents or to find them host families. We give monthly financial aid to those families who agree to take children to their houses and provide them conditions to live in normal family environment.” Participant Kartlos Kartvelishvili asked, “Can the parent be punished if he or she violates a child’s rights?” Golubiani answered, “There are penalty methods for such parents and if the court decides that child’s rights are violated, it can take the child away from the parents. If you are aware of such case, please contact the Ministry immediately.” The online chat helped participants discuss protection of vulnerable children’s rights, increase awareness of efforts made to address children’s problems, and improved understanding of the significance of caring for the younger generation in forming of a strong civil society.

Librarians practice creating and
saving documents in HTML format
at the IATP access site in Tbilisi.

Librarians Learn to Digitize Materials in Efficient Format in Tbilisi, Georgia
From June 5 to 9, ten librarians from the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia (NPLG), IATP’s partner organization, completed a course on the common programming language, HTML, at the IATP access site in Tbilisi, Georgia, and gained the skills they need to convert books into an electronic format that is more convenient to access and efficient to store online. IATP Access Site Administrator Vano Tsertsvadze taught participants how to scan, use optical character recognition to translate images of typewritten text into machine-editable text; and to format, create and save online documents. Librarians have already performed enormous work digitizing materials in a word processing format, but did not realize that it uses up more resources and is less convenient for users to access than HTML-encoded Web pages. Participant Ia Khajalia commented, “Online versions of books and other materials have great value, since they serve as an alternative source for people to acquire necessary information through the Internet. Managing these resources for efficient and convenient availability will increase and improve public access to them.” As a result of the course, participants furthered their knowledge in digitizing materials in a more efficient format that will help them enhance work of the library and popularize Georgian literature and other materials online.

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KAZAKHSTAN

Aydarhanov prepares for his seminar
for 10 entrepreneurs at the at the
Independent Internet Center in
Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan

Alumnus Introduces Local Entrepreneurs to Online Business Resources in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
On June 23, Mirhat Aydarhanov (CC 04), the chair of the Department of Economics at Semipalatinsk State University, completed a three-day workshop entitled, "Online Business Resources," for 10 local entrepreneurs at the Independent Internet Center in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Aydarhanov introduced the entrepreneurs, including three owners of larger companies operating in more than five cities of Kazakhstan, two representatives of medium-sized business, and five entrepreneurs from local small firms, to the nascent role of the Internet in doing business in Kazakhstan. The participants also studied the basic principles of marketing and advertising through the Internet, the main electronic systems of payment such as Web money transfers, systems that enable Internet users to conduct safe online transactions in real time, and various retail websites. Aydarhanov also introduced the participants to Central Asian online resources devoted to business, such as the USAID Enterprise Development Project in Central Asia, the Sverdlovsk Oblast Committee on Small Business, and the Inline Business Portal. Aydarhanov gained his knowledge of online business resources and their role in modern business while he was in the United States with the Community Connections Small Business Program in 2004, when he visited US coprorations. Galina Agzamova, one of three company directors attending the seminar, commented, “Due to a tight schedule, I really lack time for self development and growth. I gained useful information and tips on using online resources to sell/buy products. I never paid attention to such opportunities, but now I am interested in putting my business on the Internet.” The participants were also equipped with up-to-date knowledge of using the Internet for business, a tool that will greatly enhance their own business operations, including opportunities to establish new contacts, find partners, and advertise their products online. They hope to expand their businesses by using online resources to reach not only local markets, but those in different countries as well. Sagintay Jarkimbaev, the owner of a small firm in Semipalatinsk, thanked Aydarhanov on his colleagues’ behalf for the seminar and expressed interest in attending his next workshop on using e-mail for order and customer management in mid-August.

Dmitry Solonov, a student from High
School No. 28, shares his new e-mail
address and online links he liked with
his peers at the IATP access site in
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Partner Organization in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Advertises Access Site via Educational Campaign
On June 2, the IATP access site in Almaty, Kazakhstan hosted a promotional campaign entitled “Education Day,” comprised of a series of workshops for 41 high school and college students, teachers, librarians, and unemployed city residents. The staff of the Bagalin State Children’s Library (BSCL), IATP’s partner organization that hosts the IATP access site, and IATP Administrator Alexander Parfentyev organized the campaign to advertise the site’s resources and services among local residents and organizations. For most IATP partners, promotion and advertising are new concepts, but the BSCL staff is learning to raise the IATP access site’s profile through campaigns, festivals, and other events that are useful and interesting to local residents. The six-hour event included seminars such as “What I Know about Computers,” “Ask the Internet: Encyclopedia Resources,” and “My Online Search Tool.” Bibliography Department Director Tursun Kenesari led a session on online job opportunities and library resources for 12 librarians and 15 unemployed residents, introducing the unemployed residents to the basics of writing résumés and preparing for interviews using practice sessions. The librarians learned how to search for rare collections of books, digital books, and online encyclopedias. The director of BSCL’s Information Technology Department, Maksim Golbrayht, introduced 14 high school and college students to word processing and image editing software, search engines and e-mail services. Galiya Kaishebekova, a librarian from Kyzylagash village, commented, “I found the seminar very helpful in terms of searching for rare books and compiling a list of library-related online links. I am sure that we can make up for gaps in our collection at the library with the books available on the Internet using our newly acquired knowledge.” By conducting the campaign, the library staff continued learning new promotional skills necessary to effectively manage the site and attract new users.

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MOLDOVA

Seminar participants learn about
efficient online communication from the
interactive presentation

Government Officials and NGO Employees Discover Online Communication Tools in Chisinau, Moldova
On June 16, the IATP Training Laboratory in Chisinau, Moldova, hosted a seminar entitled “Efficient Online Communication,” co-sponsored by Counterpart Moldova and conducted by Sergiu Andreev, a lecturer at Moldovan State University, for 10 employees of local government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The aim of the seminar was to equip participants with skills in online communication and Internet use to increase the efficiency of their work and foster cooperation between government and nonprofit organizations. Andreev started the seminar with an interactive presentation on use of online communication tools for academic and professional work. Then he demonstrated how to search the Web for information of professional interest to the participants and send messages, images, and scanned documents via e-mail. The participants learned about various tools for online communication, such as online chats and forums. They also discovered how to create and administer a mailing list and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of online tools for spreading information in comparison with mail and the telephone. By sponsoring this seminar, IATP contributed to the professional development of the staff of local government agencies and nonprofit organizations and encouraged them to use information technology in their professional activity.

Margareta Buga teaches IT to
volunteers working with children
from the risk zone

Volunteers Teach Computer and Internet Basics to Children in Criuleni, Moldova
Throughout the month of June, 46 children, including 10 orphans, from Boscana and Cosernita villages (Criuleni district, Moldova) attended trainings on computer and Internet basics. Gheorghe Scutelnic (CC 00), the leader of Boscana XXI, a nonprofit organization working with children, organized this training in cooperation with another local nonprofit organization, Appse-Internet. Scutelnic attended computer and Internet trainings conducted by IATP Mobile Trainer Margareta Buga from May 6 to 8 to and acquired Internet skills useful for his work with children from the so-called “risk zone.” The risk zone is territory near the border between Moldova and the breakaway Transdnestrian Republic. Residents of this zone, especially children, suffered from military operations that took place there in the 1990s, and have limited opportunities for study and professional development due to instability in the region. At the IATP trainings, the volunteers learned to work with computer applications, search the Web for information of interest to them, send messages through e-mail, and develop Websites. The participants also had prepared handouts and other materials, which they used at trainings for the children. As a result of IATP trainings, the volunteers transferred their computer and Internet knowledge to children to help their academic and personal development. The volunteers also created the websites of their organizations to promote their activities and attract the attention of a wider Internet audience to the problems facing children in the risk zone.

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ARMENIA

The website of the Student Council
of Gyumri Campus of Yerevan State
Institute of Economics is now available
at http://activeplus.am.iatp.net

College Student Council Launches Online Presence in Gyumri, Armenia
On June 21, Vlad Shatverov posted the website of the Student Council of the Gyumri Campus of the Yerevan State Institute of Economics (YSIEGY) to IATP’s server at http://activeplus.am.iatp.net/ after completing a Web design course for representatives of 10 different college student councils at the IATP access site in Gyumri, Armenia. Shatverov is vice president of the YSIEGY Student Council, a membership organization comprised of young students with initiative and leadership skills that carry out various community service projects in Armenia. IATP Trainer Edik Mkoyan taught participants the key concepts in Web design, including a common web programming language, website structure, and use of visual website editors. Participants learned how to use tables in Web pages and how to post resources to a server. Mkoyan also gave recommendations on scanning and editing images in order for the website to be as accessible as possible. The newly-created website contains information about the structure and history of the student council, past activities and future plans of the group, and pictures and stories from the lives of local students and professors. Shatverov remarked, “This website will help us establish contacts with various local and international organizations from other cities of Armenia and abroad, as well as draw the attention of the local community and promote our group.”

IATP Access Site Trainer Karen
Arzumanyan (right) helps the staff of the
local NGO Syunyats Artsivner participate
in the online discussion from the IATP
access site in Kapan, Armenia.

IATP Partners and Staff Across Armenia Discuss Business Operating Issues Online
On June 9, eleven representatives of IATP’s partner organizations and IATP employees gathered online to discuss their experiences, plans, and challenges in operating a sustainable Internet center with Avetik Azatyan, branch manager of Ofma, a company that provides various information technology (IT) services. The purpose of the online discussion was to provide the opportunity for participants to learn more about the process of establishing a business, discuss ways to deal with competition when entering a market, and trade ideas on what works. To start the discussion, Azatyan made a presentation about his experience of opening and operating a center that provides IT services, shared details of his company’s activities including costs and revenue sources, and gave consultations to participants on how to cope with different business problems. Azatyan commented, “Providing Internet access is very important, because it attracts people of various ages to use other related services of the center such as printing, copying, and scanning. However, computer games also bring a lot of income. So you should offer a variety of services provided at one place; that's the most effective.” The online chat helped increase the knowledge and understanding of IATP’s partners and staff about business issues and challenges they may encounter in the process of shifting access sites to sustainability, while increasing their readiness to take over management of IATP access sites in Armenia.

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IATP Helps Minority Populations

• In the past year, IATP has provided services to 619 people who self-identified as disabled, of which 290 also participated in IATP trainings;

• IATP users speak 46 different native languages, including such linguistic minorities as Dungan, Ingushetiya, and Lezgin;

• IATP access sites generally give a level of wheelchair accessibility unmatched in public sites in Eurasia.