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| Preparatory visit by Bob Hofman, iEARN Executive Council, to Taskent and Bukhara, Uzbekistan. |
| Website iEARN 2008 World Conference and Youth Summit.; July 12 – 18 2008 |
| Website of iEARN International |
| Day reports Monday February 11th 2008 – Saturday February 16th 2008 |
| Monday 11-02-2008First part of the flight, Amsterdam – Moscow went smooth, arrived at 16:50 at Sheremetyevo airport.Time for e-mail :-) > Flight to Taskent leaves at 20:45 hrs, arrival at 02:30More tomorrow….gr. Bob. |
| Tuesday 12-02-200803.00 hrs.Arrival at Tashkent airport.When entering the country, all persons went through passport control. After which each needs to fill in a customs declaration. The papers where only available in Russian language, so foreigners gathered trying to figure what needs to written.
Please remember to fill in two copies; one is kept and one is stamped and needs to be taken to provide when leaving the country. The conference organization offered to put the forms in English on-line, so we can fill them in advance. 04:20 hrs. Pick-up at the airport by Shaykat Yusupon, an undergraduate English student. Arrival at Orzu Hotel.. sleep! 08:00 hrs. Waking up with a view on an deep frozen swimming pool; it’s still very cold (-13C) and soon a power failure causes a black-out over part of the city. It’s a real struggle for people to stay warm!
11:30 hrs. Flight from Tashkent to Bukhara… de-icing the plain caused took some time the all 32 passengers went in. The plain was so full that all emergency exits were packed with suitcases. For two hours nothing but snow and beautiful views a freezing country.
14.00 hrs . Anatoly and Lev were waiting at the gate in Bukhara. Of to the Palace Hotel to check in.
The conference guests will be hosted in the Bukhara Palace hotel (****), with a capacity of 400 guests. Next to the hotel is second hotel that momentarily is being renovated, and where 200 guests can stay. Breakfast and dinner will be served in the Palace hotel, while and lunch will be offered at the conference place, 10 – 15 minutes on walking distance from the Palace hotel (pendel busses will also be provided at certain times) 15:00 hrs. Lunch and walk through old city of Bukhara….even the Camels are cold!
17.00 hrs. Meeting at Kamolot office. Anatoly and Bob met with Mr. Bahram Husenov, the director of the Kamolot Youth movement, a non for profit NGO. Kamolot provides youth services in the Bukhara city and region for progress and development. There are 268.000 people living in Bukhara, of which 177.00 youth. 98.000 youth are a member of Kamolot. In Bukhara there are 38 school (grade 1-9), 20 colleges (grade 10-12) and one University. In each Kamolot has a representative working. Kamolot is funded by local and national companies, either financially or with in-kind services. Kamolot offers extra lessons and activities to students from low income families. Kamolot is a partner of iEARN Uzbekistan; together they offer on-line summer camps and a virtual school for disables students. During the annual iEARN Conference Kamolot will support with 90 volunteers, 50 English speaking and 20 Russian and French speaking.
Mr. Anatoly Kochnev (iEARN Uzbekistan) and Mr. Bahram Husenov (Kamolot) Welcome at iEARN Uzbekistan office, where 6 people are working. A warm place in a larger, cold building, Due to the extreme cold the building has no electricity, luckily iEARN Uzbekistan office managed to keep power and Internet.
From left to right: Dennis – Anatoly – Bob – Lev. (and Aziz made the picture) 19.30 – 22:30 The day ended with a very nice dinner out, where Lev, Dennis and Aziz joined. |
| Wednesday February 13th 2008Lets start today with some pictures taken from Palace Hotel.The swimming pool, now completely frozen, will be far more attractive in July!From the room there’s a nice view on the old city
In front the hotel that is being renovated; in the background the Palace hotel, so all participants will be close together!
This is the building where the conference will take place: Bukhara Low College
Mr. Hamraev is very interested in iEARN and confirmed his strong support for iEARN Uzbekistan in organising the conference. It was a pleasure to meet so many people today that warmly support iEARN Uzbekistan, well done conference team!
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| Thursday February 14th 200808:00 – 08:30 hrs.Second visit at conference venue at Bukhara Low School. We were again denied access to the school building. A written authorization was not available. Lev will bring a visit on a later moment and take some pictures, to be send to Assembly.10:00 hrs.
Departure to Bukhara Airport; smooth flight from 12:00 – 13:10 hrs. to Tashkent 14:30 – 15:15 hrs. Visit at US Embassy in Tashkent. Meeting with Mrs.Stephanie Fitzmaurice (Cultural Affairs Officer) and Mrs. Molly Stephenson (Press Attaché). An informal meeting where it soon became clear that iEARN Uzbekistan is seen as a trustworthy and respected partner. On behalf of iEARN International Bob explained that the support with 65 student scholarships for Central Asian Countries was highly appreciated. Anatoly spoke on several other projects. Both Mrs.Stephanie Fitzmaurice and Mrs. Molly Stephenson were invited to participate at the conference. No pictures allowed ;-). We walked back in the direction of the hotel and enjoyed Tashkent in the snow:
Valentines day is ‘hot’ in Uzbekistan, pink balloons and flowers everywhere!
17:00 hrs. Anatoly and Bob say goodbye, Anatoly flies back to Bukhara at 19:00 pm this evening, Bob returns on Saturday the 16th at 04:50 am via Moscow to Amsterdam. End of a successful mission. We wish the 2008 Conference team lots of success in further preparations. So far they have done an amazing job. Full report to the Assembly of iEARN was sent on February 15th. Goodbye Uzkekistan, see you in July 2008!! |
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