05 December 2002

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Gulnara Kusherbaeva has been a volunteer for the women's group Nayada Women's Network of Almaty since December 1998. Previously she was part of a large project called "Women's Rights are Human Rights", carried out by the Almaty Women's Information Centre.

One of the initiators of this project was Meral Akkent, a sociologist from Germany, who Gulnara believes played an important role in establishing and developing the women's movement in Kazakhstan. She inspired Gulnara to volunteer in other projects, wrote many articles about the voluntary work of women's groups in Germany, Turkey, and the US, and told people about her work in various women's projects. She taught people how to design interesting flyers and notices and where to post them to catch women's attention, and organized meetings and exhibitions to support talented women.

This is how Gulnara learnt about volunteering in a women's group.

In December 1998 Gulnara and three other women registered the women's NGO Nayada, using their own money, without seeking foreign or other sponsors.

They wanted to create a women's network for women, by women and about women. Their first women's conference brought together 30 journalists from all over Kazakhstan. They published the first directory of women's projects and women's initiatives, although they couldn't get information on all women's NGO's existing at the time. A second edition was made more comprehensive.

Gulnara's group of women volunteers got other women involved in their projects, including journalists, writers, students and others. They were particularly successful in involving volunteers in education and information exchange projects. For example, two projects, "Twelve Literature Evenings with Kazakhstani Women Writers" and "Three Generations of Women: Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters", got young people, including schoolchildren, involved in collecting material about the interesting activities of women relatives and friends in both family and community life. Daughters and granddaughters conducted interviews with mothers and grandmothers and learned much that they had never known before, and tried to write about it.

Another project of Gulnara's NGO is "Cooperation with Women's Organisations in Lower Saxony (Germany)". Kazakhstani women travel to Germany, actively take part in discussions with women's groups, and apply much of the German experience when they return to Kazakhstan.

The task of Gulnara's group is to identify women who will benefit from the time in Germany and who will be energized and inspired to try to put their own ideas into practice as a result. Gulnara's group helps women find funds for these visits, prepares materials for publication, and translates them for free during their stay in Germany.

Gulnara believes that without volunteers, many women would not have the opportunity to receive important information about women's movements in other countries, and about sponsors willing to help projects supporting women. Even for a small publication, funds are needed for printing, binding, computer design etc., and volunteers take on a lot of work for the sake of their cause.

Gulnara says that as a result of her voluntary activity she has learned to make more interesting and conscious use of her time. She also feels that her voluntary work gives her the chance to meet interesting people and to establish important contacts for supporting women's initiatives and solving their problems. Volunteering helps Gulnara feel self-confident and needed.