GYSD Project: Pay It Forward in Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan

From 22 to 24 April Aizhan Zhumagulova ’13, Aiganish Sidikova ’13 and Janil Tilekova ’12  together with a team of Peace Corps volunteers organized trainings about healthy living and volunteering for 80 middle-school students of Balykchy. A local NGO ‘Danko’ helped facilitate the event.

The project that was hosted at the Balykchy city hall consisted of six trainings on Leadership, Goal-Setting, Self Esteem, Fitness, Mental Health and Motivation. In the course of  three days the participants learnt about volunteering opportunities, discussed Kyrgyz culture and traditions and even practiced yoga.

‘The students were so motivated to become volunteers that two weeks later they took part in Altynai Klimova’s GYSD project ‘A Book is Life’. All of our GYSD projects made a big impact on our community,’ says Aizhan.