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Semipalatinsk
Relief
The Government of Kazakhstan's Semipalatinsk
Relief and Rehabilitation Programme invites all interested
persons to spend the summer up in the Semipalatinsk
region of Kazakhstan and surrounding villages working
with local NGOs and state institutions in assisting
the populations affected by the nuclear testing.
- Assisting NGOs and CBOs with grant and small business
proposals;
- Assisting with medical treatment;
- Assisting in improving the services of a state institution;
- Carrying out needs assessment (mostly regarding
health) for villages;
- Teaching English;
- Teaching of basic computer skills;
- Playing games with orphans (infants and children).
The Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) will also help
place participants based on their experience and their
requests. The PCU is already in contact with some of
these institutions regarding their needs.
Participants in the Summer programme should have the
following qualifications:
- Some background in the social spheres and knowledge
of transition issues;
- Russian language skills (the region is Russian-speaking;
Kazakh is spoken rarely in the villages);
- Tolerance for difficult living conditions (depending
on where you are based);
- Be available for at least one month (up to 10 weeks)
The summer placements are for those who are interested
in learning firsthand about the effects of the transition
to the market economy under special circumstances. It
is hoped that when people come to the region for a summer
that they will give something to the region and obtain
something out of their experience. The intention is
that in the future, these contacts may lead to other
potential programmes, such as twinning with other
cities or the sending of more volunteers to the region.
This program is also an excellent opportunity for students
to collect data for their own independent projects that
could be used for credit in your own university. While
the possibilities are endless, some examples are: sociology,
rural extension, agriculture, ecology or resource management,
economics, geography, environmental sciences, women's
studies etc. To take advantage of this, you must contact
our program advisors early to arrange this before you
leave. |
