Muskie [8] program and Global UGRAD [9] program alumni are among the winners of Open Your Eyes [10], a social advertising competition sponsored by the Soros Foundation Kazakhstan. As members of the Alumni Leaders League (ALL) of Kazakhstan, the alumni submitted the first-place video “Corruption is Dirt” and “Corruption and Prices,” winner of an audience award.
The Open Your Eyes competition challenged young citizens to create social advertisements of 60 seconds or less to draw attention to a social problem affecting Kazakhstan. Geniyat Issin, a 2003 Muskie fellow at Texas A&M [11] and Bates Assilbekova, president of ALL and a 2000 UGRAD student at Lincoln Train Community College [12], worked together with other exchange program alumni in Kazakhstan to develop and produce the winning videos.
Both of ALL’s videos focused on the problem of corruption. “Corruption is Dirt” depicts the bribery of a public official and emphasizes that the dirt of corruption touches everyone in society. “Corruption and Prices” depicts prices increasing as a seller is forced to incorporate the cost of bribes in the price of food. “Corruption and Prices” closes with a simple statement, “From our taxes, a government official receives a salary. From our wallets, their bribes are paid.”
Reflecting on the importance of the anti-corruption message for his country, Geniyat Issin noted, “Kazakhstan is a very young sovereign state. And it's sad that corruption has almost become a norm of life, something that people brag about. For Kazakhstan to grow and truly prosper, this disease has to be cured. If we consistently lack the just rule of law then people will lose their faith in justice, and this will wear out their enthusiasm in belonging to this country. And if people would stop believing in their own country - then the country has no future.”
Congratulations to Geniyat Issin, Bates Assilbekova, and the Alumni Leaders League for their success in the Open Your Eyes competition and for their abiding enthusiasm for the future of Kazakhstan.
The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program [8] and the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia [9] and Central Asia [9], are funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [13] of the US Department of State, and implemented by IREX.