1. >> Global Connections & Exchange
Digital Youth Dialogue <<
MAY-JUNE 2011
DYD is a program of the United States Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. GCE is a program of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

2. IN THIS ISSUE: www.irex.org
Student from Kyrgyzstan DYD Journalism Club Update:
Invited to International In January, the 22 talented and
Leadership Summit in promising students were chosen to
Washington, DC participate in Digital Youth Dialogue’s (DYD)
Journalism, Technology, and Leadership Win-
ter Camp, where they developed their techni-
88 Tech Age Girls
cal and professional skills through sessions on
Semifinalists Conduct IT
IT, journalism, conflict mitigation, and leader-
Training for 450 Individuals ship skills. Read on for details of some of the
young journalists’ achievements following the
Internet Enabling Students to camp at the following schools and libraries:
Enhance English Language
Learning with Self-Paced • Aitmatov School, Osh
Tools • Adyshev School, Alay
• School No. 14, Jalal-Abad
Three Tech Age Girls Become • Alay Public Library
Finalists of Future Leaders • Kyzyl-Kiya Library
Exchange Program
DYD Bokonbaev School Estab-
lished Online Dialogue with
Partner Schools via Skype
TAG Alumna Takes Language
Courses at the University of
Notre Dame in Indiana
Local Training Enables Educa-
tors at GCE school to Improve
Their English-teaching Skills

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and non-profit sectors, and will collaborate in
Student from Kyrgyzstan Invited to
project planning workshops, where the partici-
International Leadership Summit in pants will further hone their skills to implement
Washington, DC change in their home communities.
This summer, Aijarkyn Aisakhunova will have the Aisakhunova learned about IL2L opportunity from
chance to visit the United States for six days the TAG alumni listserv and her participation in it
thanks to skills she developed as a participant in is closely linked to her success in TAG: “I am truly
the Tech Age Girls project. thankful for the TAG project,” she shared,
“because thanks to this project I gained the skills
that are helping me now to achieve my goals.
TAG will always be a part of my life.”
After the summit, Aisakhunova plans to pass her
new skills to others in her community by training
students and young girls on leadership, goal set-
ting and community needs assessment, at the lo-
cal “Leadership” youth volunteer organization.
88 Tech Age Girls Semifinalists Conduct
IT Training for 450 Individuals
Aijarkyn Aisakhunova sharing her
community project ideas at the TAG In 22 Schools and three libraries across Kyr-
conference gyzstan, 88 Tech Age Girls semifinalists conducted
ICT training sessions for 450 members of their
As one of three finalists selected from Kyr- communities including parents, friends, neighbors
gyzstan’s 67 applicants, Aisakhunova will be tak- and classmates. Participants developed new un-
ing part in the iLive2Lead International Leadership derstanding and skills in using video calling, and
Summit, held in Washington, DC on July 17-23. email services, conducting internet searches, and
IL2L provides intensive high-level leadership train- working with audio, video, and photo applica-
ing to young women from around the globe, im- tions.
mersing its summit participants in a curriculum
studying leadership styles, networking skills, pro- Gulayum Aimanova, a resident of Naryn, was very
ject management, and the use of media and the grateful for the training she received from TAG
web to organize social change. In addition, sum- semifinalist Nazgul Abdykerimova. She shared, “I
mit attendees will take part in meetings with suc- really appreciate that these girls shared the skills
cessful female leaders from the private, public, they gained during their project. I never thought
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that internet could be so useful. I always talk to with a social networking functionality, connecting
my son abroad over the phone and it costs so users to native speakers of the language being
much money. Now I learned about Skype, and by studied. For most students in Kyrgyzstan, GCE’s
using it, I can even see my son…! Thanks to TAG online projects and internet connectivity has
for giving the girls such a great opportunity to given them their first opportunity to communicate
learn new technology.” with fluent English speakers, taking language
learning out of the textbook and into the real
world of communication and interaction. Using
the American English File, the students are ac-
TAG semifinalist Nazgul Abdykerimova
teaches computing basics to Gulayum
Aimanova in Naryn
Ninth-grader Mavluda Muratjan kyzy of Bokonbaev
School uses her school’s internet connection to
study German on language learning community
Internet Enabling Students to Enhance site Livemocha.com
English Language Learning with
Self-Paced Tools
cessing English learning resources, and then put-
As the school year winds down, 35 students at the ting them to use on Livemocha in writing, reading
Bokonbaev Boarding School in Bazar-Korgon have and speaking exercises, chats with native speak-
been using the internet provided by the Global ers, and discussions of culture in English-speaking
Connections and Exchange program at their school countries like the United States.
to enhance their education, making use of self-
paced language-learning tools online. Ninth-grader Ainagul Kaldarbekova is grateful for
her ability to use internet at school in order to
The students have been using Livemocha and the guide her own learning: “Since I’ve been using
American English File websites to practice their Livemocha, my English has developed a lot. My
English skills; both sites have been useful tools in favorite activity on the site is chatting with Eng-
language study thanks to their internet connec- lish speakers… I learn new English words from
tivity. Livemocha, with 9 million members in its them and find out about [where they live]. I can
community, pairs interactive language lessons also study Geography through the site. There are
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many great pictures and a lot of information lish language. All these skills helped me become a
about the countries and their cultures there. Be- finalist for the FLEX program.”
sides, I develop my computer skills, and can type
a little bit faster now.”
Teachers have been very supportive of online
learning tools to maximize their students’
achievement: Speaking about the American Eng-
lish File, Aigul Dzhumagulova, an English teacher
at Bokonbaev, noted that language websites “are
a really unique opportunity for students to de-
velop their English. When they visit the site they
do not feel like they are studying, it is just fun
for them. I usually make students practice exer-
cises on [American English File] after they have a Saikal Murat kyzy conducting TAG outreach.
new grammar point or vocabulary. The students Murat kyzy is one of three Tech Age Girls
who come in for extra English use the exercises selected this year to participate in the Future
Leaders Exchange program.
on the site frequently. Consequently, they have
achieved good results in English.”
Administered by American Councils for Interna-
tional Education, FLEX gives secondary students
Three Tech Age Girls Become Finalists of the chance to live with a host family and attend a
Future Leaders Exchange Program U.S. high school for a year. During their time in
the United States, the girls plan to keep in touch
with their peers in Kyrgyzstan via GCE’s educa-
Tech Age Girls 2010 alumni Saikal Murat kyzy from tional portal and educational network, including
Karakol and Yuliya Prokofyeva from Kyzyl-Kiya, video conferences while abroad.
and TAG 2011 semifinalist Aizahan Tazabekova
from Naryn recently were announced as finalists
of the US Department of State funded Future
Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program. DYD Bokonbaev School Established Online
Dialogue with Partner Schools via Skype
They are now preparing for their trips to the
United States, as they await news of their desti-
nations and travel dates. The skills they devel- On May 12, thirty-eight students from Bokonbaev
oped in the TAG project, they agree, had a great school in Toktogul and School No. 2 in Talas par-
impact on their ability to succeed in applying for ticipated in a constructive discussion on democ-
the exchange program: “Thanks to TAG, I gained racy, and formed new friendships with their fel-
leadership skills, IT skills and developed my Eng- low citizens via Skype.
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The call, held entirely in English, was a welcome experiences in decision making process. And of
challenge for the participants – they began prepa- course rule of law should work in society too.”
ration two weeks ahead of time, learning new
words, reading material on democracy, and prac- Thanks to the GCE and DYD programs, schools
ticing using the Skype software to make the con- from the north and south of Kyrgyzstan were able
nection. to communicate virtually and have a discussion
about very relevant issues, while becoming friends
with each other in the process. At the end of the
call, the students shared their e-mail addresses
and Facebook accounts, hoping to continue their
correspondence.
TAG Alumna Takes Language Courses
at the University of Notre Dame in
Indiana
Students in Talas and Toktogul take part in
a Skype discussion on democracy Tech Age Girls 2010 alumna Janara Asizova got
the opportunity to visit US for two months, thanks
Rather than tackle democratic development in the to skills gained during her participation in the pro-
country as a whole, students approached the topic ject. Asizova was selected as one of 120 students
in a way more applicable to their daily lives: stu- from around the world to participate in the Un-
dent government. Every school in Kyrgyzstan has a dergraduate Intensive English Language Study Pro-
student president and parliament (the equivalent gram (UIELSP) of the Office of Academic Exchange
of a school’s student council in the United Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cul-
States), an institution aimed at teaching students tural Affairs (ECA).
the basic elements of governance. During the call,
the discussion focused on students’ understanding The eight-week program provides English language
of democracy as it relates to student government, practice, leadership skills building, and civic edu-
how to make student elections more transparent, cation and engagement. While the primary focus
and include democratic principles in these bodies. is intensive English language coursework, pro-
grams also include components on leadership, and
Following the call, participant Jibek Akmatova, a participants will be involved in volunteerism and
10th grader at School No. 2 in Talas, shared community service projects that focus on relevant
“citizens in democracies need to know their issues such as public health, wellness, environ-
rights but also with it they need to know their mental conservation, and sustainability.
responsibilities.… This is especially important in
Kyrgyzstan, where young people will be responsi- Asizova shares, “All of my achievements are
ble and can take part with their knowledge and thanks to TAG project; skills that I have gained
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during TAG helped me to realize my goals. One The rigorous training program built new skills in
of my biggest achievements is the participation in the students with a number of important tools for
UIELSP, thanks to the leadership skills provided at effective modern journalism, including layout,
the TAG conference.” photo and multimedia editing, interview tech-
niques, digital storytelling, and publishing. Fol-
lowing the camp, the participants founded new
journalism clubs at 11 schools and expanded the
activities of one existing club. Details of some of
the young journalists’ achievements are high-
lighted below:
At Aitmatov School in
Osh, DYD participants
Barchinoy Ishonhonova
and Muhaye Gapirova re-
turned to their existing
Asizova, in 2010, at her internship as a
TAG finalist. Now an alumna, she recently
journalism club and
was selected to visit the United States on a vastly expanded its ca-
leadership program. pacities; their newspa-
per, Tengdos, now publishes in Kyrgyz, Russian,
Asizova is studying at the Center for the Study of Uzbek and English cross-publishing in four lan-
Languages and Cultures of the University of Notre guages takes a significantly bigger staff, and the
Dame in Indiana. While in the United States, she students met that need by generating new inter-
continues to share her experience with the other est in the club with new members, training 10 re-
Tech Age Girls via Facebook and Skype, in addi- cruits in the skills they learned at the Winter
tion to holding videoconferences with TAG final- Camp themselves. In April, Tengdos’s editors
ists to answer their questions about life in the shared their experiences on Kyrgyzstan’s Educa-
United States. tional Portal.
Aizada Tynchybek kyzy
DYD Journalism Club Update and Nurdariya Jooshbaeva
from Adyshev School in
Alay, studied videomak-
In January, the 22 talented and promising stu- ing and digital storytel-
dents were chosen to participate in Digital Youth ling, and produced their
Dialogue’s (DYD) Journalism, Technology, and own videos while attend-
Leadership Winter Camp, where they developed ing the Winter Camp. Upon their return, they
their technical and professional skills through ses- founded the school’s new journalism club and
sions on IT, journalism, conflict mitigation, and launched Knowledge, Adyshev’s newspaper. The
leadership skills. paper features regular articles about the school,
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as well as poems written by students. has been engaging in additional video journalism
projects, reporting on the use of internet at
Adilet Azimkanov and school, Karbyshev School’s achievements at a lo-
Jamilya Tashtanova of cal cultural festival, student life, and daily life in
School No. 14 in Jalal- Kyzyl-Kiya in a several pieces, all available at Kyr-
Abad started a ten- gyzstan’s Educational Network.
student Journalism club
upon their return to Jalal- Though currently taking a break from their new
Abad and began work on lives as young journalists while on summer vaca-
the school newspaper, tion, the journalism clubs impacted by DYD’s Win-
titled Teenager. The newspaper covers all aspects ter Camp will begin again in the fall, getting right
of student and youth life in the community, and back to work at informing their peers on the news
features articles about Nooruz, the Central Asian that’s important to them, and will be doing so
New Year, and International Women’s Day, in ad- thanks to the skills they worked hard to develop.
dition to publishing useful resources for students. Digital Youth Dialogue is a Program of the United
They are currently working on their second edi- States Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.
tion and continue to train new members of the
club.
Aisuluu Abdubaly kyzy and
Minura Begishbek kyzy re-
turned to their commu-
nity’s Alay Library to form
a group of 10 local stu-
dents and created a news-
paper called School Mes-
senger, which has informa-
Follow us online!
tion on Alay’s local Otunchiyev School. In the pa-
per, the club reports on school contests, upcom-
ing holidays, important information regarding stu-
dent examinations, and even launched a “Teacher
of the Year” competition.
@GCEKyrgyzstan
Bahrom Tursunov and
Baimurza Abdubaitov, rep-
resenting youth patrons of
the Kyzyl-Kiya Library,
used the IT and journalism http://bit.ly/gcekg-fb
skills they gained to cre-
ate Karbyshev School’s
Our Newspaper. Tursunov
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