Uzbekistani Students Meet with American Soldiers

On April 22, Uzbekistani students and teachers participating in School Connectivity for Uzbekistan had a unique opportunity to meet and interact with American soldiers based in the Karshi region. Thirty-six students and 12 teachers from Karshi Schools No. 12, No. 3, No. 9, No. 15, and No. 115 met with seven American soldiers at Karshi School No. 12, an idea that originated with Patrick Toresen who is responsible for recreational activities of the American servicemen based in Karshi.

At the beginning of the meeting, Toresen introduced his colleagues to the students, while Regional Educator Nurillo Hudoinazarov introduced the students and gave a brief description of the School Connectivity program, its goals, and achievements. After the introductions, the students and the guests split into six groups for a question and answer session. The US soldiers described their daily routine in the army before and after their military service, while students and teachers, in English, described their family and their interests. “I really enjoyed the meeting. We talked in a friendly manner and I was able to answer many questions of American soldiers. Tony Wilson described his life in the United States before the military, and we described our city, traditions, and customs,” said eleventh grader from School No. 3 Asliddin Gulomov.

In addition to meeting the soldiers in person, more then 25 students from Andijan, Namangan, Ferghana, and Karshi schools took part in an online forum where soldiers from the base talked about their military service, leisure time, and impressions of Uzbekistan. The questions addressed the life in the army, difficulties that soldiers had in Uzbekistan, and their impressions of Uzbekistan. Wilfredo Navidad, who answered students’ questions wrote, “Today is my first day in Karshi. I think it is very pretty and the people are very friendly.” He then added, “I did not have a culture shock, because I have been living on base and it is not very different than being in the U.S. I have enjoyed visiting School No.12. I love spending time with the kids, because I am a teacher in Alabama.”

Karshi students prepared for meeting the soldiers by using their school’s Educational Internet Center (EIC) resources, where they researched the popular game of basketball. They were able to locate information on the origins of basketball and the latest news about this popular game. Students learned that the game was invented by James Naismith, a physical education trainer in Massachusetts, who published his article about the rules of the game in 1892 on the Russian website “All About Basketball.”

After the question and answer session, the students and soldiers played basketball outside School No. 12. The students were happy to have the opportunity to play with American soldiers. Sherzod Agzamov from Academic Lyceum “Nuristan” stated, “We were very happy to play basketball with Americans. The game went very well. They surprised us with their way of playing and we were not by any means upset about (our) loss, because they played very well. This meeting brought us much closer to American people.”

The meeting at Karshi School No. 12 proved to be very fruitful – students learned about the life of American soldiers and the soldiers experienced a part of Uzbekistan different from their military base. IREX is pleased that this cross-cultural communication resulted in a mutually beneficial experience.