Inspire the Growth of Kazakhstan's Global Citizens

Salem Social Village has always been about bringing change. Change to people, change to families, change to turn bad situations into something better, or difficult circumstances into a hopeful future.

Over the years, we've seen many people helped in many positive ways, whether by a wheelchair, a new perspective, a helping hand or simply a kind word and a friendly smile.

Our ultimate goal, however, remains bringing change to the culture: not in the sense of the traditions and cultural expressions of Kazakhstan, but in the way that people think, the assumptions they hold, their deeper understanding of the world around them. 

During the last 15 years, the culture here has changed a huge amount. Growing prosperity has led to greater opportunities and expectations, and the consumerist mindset has taken root: defining oneself by the coffee I drink, the clothes I wear, the things I post on social media. Value is understood as what I have.

Yet the natural endpoint of that way of life is an endless chase after more. I am never quite satisfied.

One of the things we see getting lost is the natural rhythms of life, the chance to stop and rest, to experience satisfaction. And then start again. 

If I never have enough, every moment needs to be put to use in earning more, posting more, obtaining more. Rest days are lost days if the only measure is money.

But Salem is trying to operate on a different basis, demonstrating another approach.

At Salem, August every year is time to stop, take a break, and rest satisfied at the end of the academic year before the next one begins.

Embracing the rhythms.

And so there isn't much to report this month. The teachers have taken the month off, the site staff are busy doing repairs, and the team is shortly to return to full speed ahead as a new semester commences.

There will always be more students to enroll, classes to teach, people to help, ways to influence. But for now, we're busy being grateful and satisfied in what we have, and embracing those rhythms that bring us life.

Thanks for supporting us as we embrace a different rhythm.

Each year we hold the Essential Teachers conference at Salem. This is a fixture in the calendar for many English teachers in the city: a chance to be inspired, to learn some new skills or perspectives relevant to the classroom, and to network with others outside the environs of their own English school or centre.

Salem's focus is not only on ensuring a vibrant successful conference each year, but also playing a part in the wider development of English teaching in the city and the surrounding area. As part of that goal, and alongside promoting the conference, this year Salem staff ran five different events during the months before the conference for teachers working in different specific organisations. These were free training events to give a taster for how to share knowledge, and promote cooperation and mutual learning. Three were held in the city, and two in villages outside of the city, where resources tend to be scarce and investment in raising standards is generally serverly lacking.

One of these events was in February in the village of Aksukent, near Shymkent. A teacher there, Mokhidil, has started her own educational centre in the village to teach English, and invited Salem to hold one of the training events at her centre. Afterwards, she expressed her appreciation about how Salem's input brought greater value and professional depth to all those who attended. "You demonstrated modern and practical methods of working with vocabulary, inspired colleagues, and shared valuable tools that are already being used in our practice," she said.

As a result, Mokhidil organised a group to attend Salem's Essential Teachers conference. "These two days were truly intense, useful and motivating for us. Everything was organized at a high level - from the content to the details," she said. "We thank the entire Salem team for their openness, warm atmosphere and desire for joint development. We hope to continue our cooperation and implement new joint initiatives!" She is now planning to run a similar event, on a smaller scale, for others in her village.

The dynamic of 'getting it and then passing it on' is at work, and we're excited to not only be training teachers, but training those who are starting to themselves train teachers!