I am the imam of Kara-Buura district of Talas oblast. I was an active participant in a 4-day training on inter-ethnic peacebuilding and was satisfied with the new knowledge acquired, although I was not happy that it took the whole 4 days. In the first days of training, I was of the opinion that the problems in the communities ought to be solved at the highest level, not at the community level. However, thanks to the materials learned, now I believe that together we can solve our internal issues. In the course of the seminar, the topic of conflicts and methods of conflict resolution was very interesting. In addition, I found very helpful the materials on the overall concept since the period of certification coincided with the trainings and I got useful information.

After the training, I took the initiative to organize some sport games among young people of different nationalities with a view to calling for respect for the diversity in society, strengthening of inter-ethnic relations and peacebuilding in our community. We invited football teams of such diaspora as the Kazakhs, Russian, Uzbeks, Kurds, and Chechens. In addition to it, junior chess matches and arm-wrestling competition among the older generation were held. I would like to note that we regularly hold competitions for young people of following nationalities: Russian, Kazakh and Kyrgyz, but this event with a purpose to strengthen the friendship between the people in our community was conducted for the first time, and it is very good! In our competitions we also drew representatives of the Kurds, which they were happy and expressed their desire not to miss in the future such events. «In the first days of training, I was of the opinion that the problems in the communities ought to be solved at the highest level, not at the community level. However, thanks to the materials learned, now I believe that together we can solve our internal issues». In spite of the strong wind and rain on that day, no one wanted to leave, all encouraged each other, and eventually the friendship won.
Story from Tagaev Kazybek