While university scholarships provided to Kazakhstan’s disadvantaged youth will certainly help them towards brighter futures, there is still an important component necessary for becoming empowered and successful individuals. That piece is the development of life skills necessary in order to “effectively improve the economic and social situations of their families, communities, and nation." In order to address this need, each year IREX works with the BOTA Foundation’s Tuition Assistance Program [17], which also administers the scholarships, to develop two trainings for the TAP recipients focused on developing these crucial life skills. I had the recent pleasure of designing a training focused on Effective Communication and Learning Styles for the TAP students. Through an interactive curriculum, the students learned how to be more effective communicators in different settings as well as study skills based on personal learning styles. The students had a lot of fun breaking away from the rigors of their everyday lives, and role played challenging life communication scenarios they often find themselves in with their professors, friends and families.
As it was my first time in Central Asia I wasn’t really sure what to expect of Kazakhstan but was even more curious about what the Kazakh university students would be like. What I encountered were pleasant surprises at every turn. Many of the students spoke English and were eager to practice with a native speaker. I couldn’t help but silently wonder about the personal stories of these inspiring young men and women. About ten percent of the TAP scholarship recipients are orphans. It was with one of these students that I felt instantly drawn to. It was hard to miss her really, dressed in all pink with rainbow shoelaces. While the other students seemed a bit shy to practice their English with me, Aiman was not. “It’s important to wear bright colors," she explained, “if you look happy on the outside, you feel happy on the inside." I am confident that the university degrees and life skills development trainings provided by the BOTA Foundation are setting Aiman and the rest of the TAP students towards successful and meaningful futures. I wish them all the best of luck.
To learn more about the BOTA foundation please visit the program webpage [17].