by Yuko Kamo

15 November 2007

Uralsk, Kazakhstan: I was in Western Kazakhstan for 1 month (August 2007) as a Shell Corporate volunteer, working with a small internet incubator (IBC) on some of their projects and advising on future strategies. Uralsk is a small but very pretty city with old houses and buildings colored with pink, blue, white and green.

Prior to getting into Uralsk, I stopped by in Almaty – the former capital city of Kazakhstan to get briefings from the local UNV country office. I was surprised to see people walking around the street with faces that looked very familiar to me: being one of the Asians with black hair and black eyes, I felt very comfortable not being noticed as a foreigner at a glance. I had a very warm welcome at the office, so that when stopping by again on my way back I felt I was ‘back’ to a place that I have known for some time.

Once I got to the very Western part of Kazakhstan – where Uralsk is -, it did not take long to fit in the organization and the new environment, make myself comfortable to work, and to actually get my hands on some of the projects, as people there were very welcoming and full of hospitality. After a brief explanation about the incubator, I started off with creating some actual design for their upcoming project:  a display that is going to be set at several places within the main office for guests and employees to see. I noticed that people were working with bitmaps only, so in cooperation with the group I created several common components for their future use in vector that showed how to work with illustrator that introduced some basics and tips of creating and managing a website. 

I had a chance to visit one of their biggest client at a place called Aksai for a meeting. It was still in Western Kazakhstan, Oblast but about 2hrs drive from Uralsk city. Once you get out of the city which does not take so long, a straight road with nothing but a field of grass appears and you can see the horizon on both sides. Some times cows, sheeps or horses appear and cross the street. The scenery was wonderful! The meeting itself went well, we reviewed the design and program for the intranet renewal project. I was able to share some experiences in managing websites and getting people involved in the corporate web related activities, so the client seemed very happy, which made the incubator and myself happy as well.

During my third and final week, I put together the many things the incubator can offer and propose to its clients in the future, and shared my thoughts with the group. I also created and implemented some project processes together with the group. This was very challenging since there was no existing project flow and manpower was limited. Nevertheless we managed to put together what they could be done for a start and also developed several document and design templates for future use.

During my free time I enjoyed walking around the city. One weekend I was invited to a Yurta - a traditional Kazakh tent-house. Everyone sits on the ground with the guest at the very back facing the entrance. When eating Beshbarmak, a traditional dish of meat; men, and then then the guest must eat first, and the traditional way to eat it is with your right hand. The course continued with a soup called sorpa, then some sweets. Very delicious and interesting.

The common language there was Russian, and I could not speak any Russian at all, so I had a chance to develop my non-verbal communication skills to communicate to people in everyday life: using gestures, sometimes drawing pictures or using photos. At the end I started to pick up some Russian too. I really enjoyed not being understood.

In my days of volunteering, I found that you get to learn and experience a lot of things, a lot more than you expect. I had a chance to go through and use my skills, I had an opportunity to learn more about the UN, UNV goals and activities both globally and locally within the briefing phase, and to learn how to cope and work together with a wider range of people with different interests, backgrounds or standards of living. What is more and needless to say you get to see and feel a different culture, to meet new people and to have an experience working in a different environment. I should say that the "Basic Security in the Field" (a online e-learning provided by UN) which you will go through in the preparation phase was interesting too.

It is one of the unforgettable experiences in my life, that I am sure will help bring new solutions to business and to my daily work as well. I am truly thankful for this opportunity – it was beyond my expectations. Many thanks to the UNV, Shell PBW, and also to all of you that might have been engaged.