Kazakh Kids Get Hands-On Training in Renewable Resources

ECA alumni recently organized a series of training courses on renewable energy for the children of Boarding-School #2 in Balkhash, Kazakstan. In cooperation with Kazakh National University, Sofya Tairova (UGRAD ’06) led a group of alumni to teach children about renewable energy and how to apply this knowledge in practice. During the seven days of the course, the boarding school hosted professors from Kazakh National University, Kazakh National Technical University, The Institute of Botany, The Fish Institute of Balkhash, independent scientist-inventors, and businessmen working in the renewable energy area. Lectures covered topics of solar and wind energy utilization, biogas production, biohumus accumulation (an organic, nutrient-rich fertilizer), fish conservation, and water and electricity conservation.   

All lectures were followed by practical workshops where children learned about and made their own solar oven, wind turbine, and biogas unit. A day was spent for construction of a large solar greenhouse with a water-saving drip-irrigation system inside which vegetables for the boarding school will be grown in the years ahead. A compost pit was made by the children for production of biohumus.

Sofya won a Democracy Outreach Grant from the US Embassy to spearhead this project as she is currently working at UNDP in their wind energy department. While studying in the United States, Sofya performed community clean-up projects, collecting and sorting through items for a recycling center, which sparked her interest in renewable energy and the environment.

This summer seven of the students from Balkhash Boarding School #2 are spending two months in Almaty, Kazakhstan with professors from Kazakhstan National University to continue to learn about renewable energy and Sofya is continuing to use IREX funding to make weekly visits to the children to help them with their work and give them courses in English.

The children and their professors hope to construct a summer camp on the shores of Lake Balkhash functioning entirely on renewable energy. They also hope to use environmentally friendly techniques to build a fish pond and fields for farming at this camp.