Global Connections and Exchange Program

Find more photos like this on Шабакаи Таълимӣ - Educational Network

HAPPY GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY!

Global Youth Service Day is the largest annual service event in the world. GYSD highlights and celebrates the difference youth make in their communities year-round through community service and service-learning. This weekend, millions of young will participate in and lead service projects in more than 100 countries around the world. Young people, working with their families, schools, community organizations, faith-based communities, and businesses, will improve their communities and change the world by addressing critical issues such as global climate change, education & illiteracy, poverty, health, hunger, and homelessness.

http://www.GYSD.org

http://tajikistan.ning.com/events/global-youth-service-day

GYSD 2009 Events in Tajikistan http://gysd.org/events/2009/tj

On the 22^nd of April Global Connections and Exchange students from Tajikistan had an online chat about the Earth Day, Volunteerism and Community Service. And the guest of the chat was a FLEX Alumni student - Shoira Pulatova who has kindly participated in chat and answered students’ questions.

It was a very interesting and useful chat both for students and Shoira Pulatova as there were many different questions and answers regarding environmental issues, activities and projects conducted on the Earth Day, and the role of youth in the community. During the discussion students also shared their knowledge and experience about volunteer work in their communities, importance of volunteerism, and participation of Tajikistan and American students in community service. Students believe that volunteerism is more developed in the US than in Tajikistan schools, and the reason for that is lack of patriotism and information about community service. Although nowadays volunteerism becomes more popular among Tajikistan youth and their community service grows year by year.

Students from Chkalovsk Internet Learning Centre think that: “Due to volunteering we can share the knowledge that we have and help others, do something useful”. Tanzila Aslonova a student from Kayarakum said: “By volunteering we can develop our society for good way”. Teacher from Khujand Gulchehra Khamidova believes that: “Volunteerism is thing about giving. And when you give you gain 10, or 100, or 1000 times more than you give”.

Shoira told students how she spent the Earth Day last year during her stay in South Carolina, USA: she and her host sister planted a tree in the garden of the Elementary School. She also added that recycling is very important for American people. Knowledge and experience Shoira has got in the USA helped her to understand how important it is to serve your community. So, every month she and other students visit houses for elderly people and orphanages from their community.

For the Earth Day GCEP students cleaned schools yards, parks, made researches of where garbage of their region or city goes to, wrote essays and created drawings about the Earth Day.

We would like to thank Shoira Pulatova for the opportunity she gave to our students to learn new and useful things about experience and knowledge about the Earth Day and Volunteerism in the USA.

Here is a Chat Transcript:

Shoira Pulatova: Good afternoon dear participants! I want to congratulate you with the Earth Day! I am very glad that we will get to chat about this topic today. What do you think about community service?

Tanzila Aslonova: Hello everybody!

Gulchehra Hamidova: For celebrating the Earth Day we are doing research on where goes the garbage. My student Majidov Azizjon is writing the report where we took a lot of pictures. We are going to post our outcomes very soon. The work is in the process so you will see it later

Shoira Pulatova: Last year I was in United States on the Earth Day. I and my host sister planted a very nice tree in one of the Elementary School’s Garden. The School was not far from my house.

Zebo Murodova: Good day everybody. Happy Earth day to all! We are students from Sarband ILC.

Shoira Pulatova: Hello dear students.

Abubakr from Sarband ILC: In what state you were last year?

Shoira Pulatova: Last year I was in South Carolina.

Subhiddin from Sarband ILC: What means to you Earth Day event?

Shoira Pulatova: I think its very important day because this is the day where we can show that we love our Earth and we are ready to be a volunteer.

Subhiddin from Sarband ILC: Yes, you are right. We have to love our Earth not only on this day but the other days too.

Gulchehra Khamidova: On Monday we had drawing class for the third and fifth grade students, and we have already posted some artworks and essay on tajikistan.ning.org.

Tanzila Aslonova: On this Day as members of Youth Leadership Club we made gardening near the place of “Markazi Javonon”. Some students wrote essays about it and soon we will post them in Educational Network.

Shoira Pulatova: Tanzila, you and your peers made good job.

Farzona Abduqayumova: In what countries people are celebrating the Earth Day? What kind of environment problems South Carolina had?

Shoira Pulatova: This day are celebrating in United States and in some Europe countries. Of course at this day people are becoming volunteers and ready to plant plants, clean garbage and of course its up to you, you can do whatever you want for the Earth.

Zamira from Sarband ILC: What can you say about recycling in USA? When it begun to celebrate the Earth Day in Tajikistan?

Shoira Pulatova: Good question. Recycling is very important for each American family. I think that this day is celebrating more than 4 years in Tajikistan.

Zebo Murodova: Yes in United States the Earth Day is more important rather than here in our country.

Shoira Pulatova: Right Zebo.

Gulnoz Toshbekova: As you are FLEX alumni student it would be nice to hear and see what are you planning to do on Earth Day or in upcoming Global Youth Service Day?

Shoira Pulatova: I think we should start doing it too.

Zebo Murodova: How you use all that knowledge which you gained in USA here in your community, country?

Shoira Pulatova: After living in United States for a year I understood how it’s important to work for your community. Now, coming back to Tajikistan we do a lot of volunteer works and every month we visit elderly houses or orphanages and we want to continue doing this.

Zebo Murodova: Yes, community give us everything, home where we live, school where we study and many other and what we give to our community? We must only take care of it and keep it clean, right?

Shoira Pulatova: I am glad that you understand this and want to say that every person should be a volunteer and clean their community from pollution.

Zebo Murodova: I understand a lot of things and doing my best that all other understand it too.

Shoira Pulatova: Thank you Zebo. We appreciate it.

Tanzila Aslonova: Of course we have to protect our Earth because we live in the Earth and I think that it is our main duty.

Zebo Murodova: Yes, you are right, if we will not do it who will come and do instead of us foreign guest?

Shoira Pulatova: If we love our country we will do it.

Farzona Abduqayumova: During that time you have been in United States what do you think does American students more active then Tajik students?

Shoira Pulatova: In volunteering American students are more active and its becoming more popular from year to year but unfortunately Tajik students don’t know much about community service.

Olim Mengyarov: What prevent to our students to be such volunteers?

Shoira Pulatova: I think that students don’t have enough information and school is one of the main reasons because teachers don’t talk about community service, volunteering.

Ibrahim Rustamov: Hello Tanzila! Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying your time. I have got a question. Why do we need to volunteer? What is the benefit from volunteering?

Zebo Murodova: Because it is not in our curriculum but we have Subbotniks where they make students to come and clean school yard. I think that our students have lack of patriotism it is just my opinion.

Olim Mengyarov: I consider that volunteers need to keep the Earth alive and clean.

Shoira Pulatova: We need to volunteer and due to volunteering we can share our knowledge that we have and help others to do something useful.

Ibrahim Rustamov: Does volunteering give something personally? if I say that I am a selfish student.

Shoira Pulatova: oh, yeah, you will become more kind.

Olim Mengyarov: Volunteering gives only experience and when we feel ourselves very content and pleased as we did a great Deed. We Muslims we have to do many good deeds.

Shoira Pulatova: I just wanted to mention this too; even from the religious side it’s very good and important form us and others.

Tanzila Aslonova: By volunteering we can develop our society for good way.

Ibrahim Rustamov: Unfortunately there are many people who do not understand the benefits of volunteering and say “Why do I need to clean or help others - they need to clean this or that, or help me instead etc.

Zebo Murodova: Yes, sure. This is the main problem.

Olim Mengyarov: To my mind our teens are little shy of being volunteers and they do not want to waste their time in nothing, they are looking for some work that brings them benefit.

Shoira Pulatova: I hear words very often like ‘Will we get paid for this work’? Everyone wants money for their work nowadays.

Zebo Murodova: Exactly, now youth think only about the money.

Ibrahim Rustamov: Wherever one goes looking for a job, experience and skills are required and there is a question “How can a former student have ‘work experience’ if he or she only was involved in studies?” By volunteering, we get work experience, skills and history! Make a good resume which is also called CV, and good real recommenders who can further recommend us to get scholarship or new highly paid job.

Olim Mengyarov: But volunteerism is not serves for money.

Shoira Pulatova: Right, but teens don’t understand this.

Ibrahim Rustamov: and of course, helping your community, you must be sure that there is a huge benefit to you as well to improve yourself!

Shoira Pulatova: even some adults say “First of all I want to improve my life and then help others”

Ibrahim Rustamov: learning by doing…

Tanzila Aslonova: I think that in Tajikistan there are students who really want to volunteer.

Zebo Murodova: Our youth afraid to make first step they get used that they be lead by adult or to spoon feeding. We must learn to be independent a little.

Shoira Pulatova: right, first they have to make goal and good plan. If they have concrete plan and goals they will reach them.

Tanzila Aslonova: Are there any organizations which work for protecting the Earth?

Murodova Zebo: I think Green Peace.

Gulchehra Khamidova: Volunteerism is thing about giving. And when you give you gain 10, or 100, or 1000 times more than you give. Volunteerism is the learning of various experiences for youth for their future works.

Shoira Pulatova: Volunteerism is not free I think, volunteerism is something from your heart and you don’t expect getting something back. But eventually one day, your kindness will come back to you. For example: 1) when you volunteer you don’t have to expect that disabled child will give something for you. 2) In American supermarkets they give you sometimes free T-shirts with their logo and the T-Shirts say Wal Mart. Wal Mart advertising their self by giving these free shirts with logos on it. It doesn’t mean that they help people in need; just on the contrary they are using this people for their profit, for promoting their business.

Shoira Pulatova: What are your plans for the Earth Day guys? What are you planning to do for the Earth today? I already heard some great ideas….

Olim Mengyarov: We are planning to visit kindergarten for holding the cleaning activities in school and in the park.

Zebo Murodova: We had open lesson to Earth Day and we involved 5th and 6th grade students and told them about Earth Day and they earned songs and poems about Earth. We also preparing for Global Youth Service Day.

Tanzila Aslonova: We are already cleaned the place of near of “Markazi Javonon” and some of us wrote the essays.

Shoira Pulatova: Good activities. It’s very good to let kids know about Earth Day.

Zebo Murodova: We also wrote essays and drew some pictures which were already submitted in Educational Network. After reading our essays we understood that our Earth is in safe hands.

Shoira Pulatova: I read some essays on the website, it’s very interesting. OK guys, thanks so much for this interesting chat. I am very proud that in our country we have people like you who are ready to volunteer and help community. I really enjoyed talking to you.

Ibrahim Rustamov: Dear students, let’s describe this chat into three adjectives.

Shoira Pulatova: interesting, useful, important

Nigina Mirzoeva: Thank you for sharing your experience with people around you.

Shoira Pulatova: I am pleased to do this.

Zebo Murodova: Thank you Shoira for finding a time to share your knowledge and experience.

Shoira Pulatova: I hope I will get to chat with you next time and hope it will be more students’ participation. Please don’t stop volunteering and helping people, wild, and nature. Happy Earth Day!

Global Youth Service Day is celebrated annually and GCE Tajikistan in addition to the ICT Educational Network has launched a wiki site allowing youth to post project at www.connect-tajikistan.org/wiki

Every year Internet Learning Centers across Tajikistan celebrate GYSD by organizing various activities like cleaning communities, helping elderly and orphans, including training students from neighboring schools to use computers and Internet.

Wikis allow user to collaboratively create pages and through using wiki, everyone is able not only create but also edit and imrove content.

We hope this wiki platform will be of great assistance not only be used during GYSD but also for other educational collaborative projects.

At the beginning of March Relief International-Schools Online organized another interesting contest for students of GCEP Internet Learning Centers of Tajikistan. Within the framework of International Women’s Day traditionally celebrated on the 8^th of March in Tajikistan and all over the world, ILC students have been invited to participate in a photo contest – “The Face of a Woman from Your Community”.

Students took an active part in the contest and during a week we have received more than 30 photographs reflecting the idea of women in their community, their role in Tajikistan’s society. Every work submitted by students has revealed the idea of the contest in its own way which made it difficult to choose the best photo. But according to the rules of the contest–quality and number of scores received by voting only three works have been chosen and declared to be the best. The winners have been awarded prizes:

First Place – USB Flash Drive 4 GB for Shahnoza Muhamadshukur, Isfara ILC

Second Place – USB Flash Drive 2 GB for Olim Mengyarov, Sarband ILC

Third Place – USB Flash Drive 1 GB for Akram Kavrakov, Dushanbe ILC

We sincerely congratulate the winners and are happy to see that GCEP students show more interest in our contests.

On March 6, Ms. Anne Benjaminson joined Global Connections and Exchange Webchat with GCE students across Tajikistan. The topic of the chat was “Women in Diplomacy”. During the chat, students have asked about a variety of questions concerning the role of women in diplomacy, women’s rights and her personal life.

Rukhshona from Isfara was interested to find a solution for a problem she might be facing to study further at the University, as her parents may not allow her to continue her studies right after finishing secondary school. She has expressed hope to study and become a doctor.

Students both from Southern and Northern regions posed questions about politics and the recent presidential election in the United States, which demonstrates the knowledge of Tajik students about world events. Azam, a student from Dushanbe, asked why during the election in the U.S., Hillary Clinton wasn’t elected president. In response, Ms. Benjaminson wrote:”… the election in the United States was very exciting this year. Hillary Clinton received millions and millions of votes, which showed that many Americans would have liked to have her as a President. We are lucky, though, because now she is the Secretary of State, which means she is the top diplomat from the United States”

Another student, Olim, from Sarband, was interested to know about the women whom the chat host admires. Ms. Benjaminson mentioned several leading women by writing “Right now, we are very proud to have Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, and Nancy Pelosi as the speaker of the House of Representatives, which is the lower house of our Parliament. I also admire foreign leaders like Angela Merkel, who is the president of Germany.”

Click here to download the chat transcript