Hard Work and Determination – a story from our worker in Kazakhstan

My first memory of Zhumaslu is of a 13-year-old girl in a Tumdi English class. At some point in a lesson I told her that she was smart and could learn English if she tried.  The next week she came up to me when we arrived and asked me “Do you really think I’m smart?”  In the following weeks, she sat up straighter, listened harder and practiced as much as she could during the week.  You could see she had started to change the way she thought about herself.

Some time later, I happened to see her keeping some of the younger kids ‘in line’ by beating them over the head. “Zhumaslu!” I entreated “Is that how you would want to be treated? You should be kind to the younger kids. Have we ever hit you?” “Your people are kind” she replied, “but not our people. We are not kind.” ”But you can be” I responded and gave her a hug.

After Zhumaslu left Tumdi, she was sent to Yesun College. Last year my colleague offered the college kids the chance to continue learning English.  Zhumaslu was one of four students to take her up on the offer. The others were way past her level and picked things up much faster. “I can’t come anymore” she said, “I’m too stupid.  They’re way better than me”. My colleague told her she shouldn’t give up, that she could do it and Zhumaslu persevered. She still hasn’t caught up to the other girls, but each week, she is the first to greet us and repeat the sentences she has obviously been rehearsing through the week. What she lacks in natural ability she makes up for in hard work and determination.

We’ve seen Zhumaslu grow so much in the past 4 years. She was the first name that popped into our heads when we began thinking about which Kazakh speaker at the College might be able to help us with our Tumdi holiday reading program.  When we approached her with the idea of coming to the ‘city’ for the week and helping us she was immediately excited, but also visibly apprehensive.  “I’m scared” she told us. “Will the teachers be there? I can’t do anything in front of them!” We assured her that she was more than capable and that it was normal to feel nervous about doing something new.

When we arrived at Tumdi for our first day, all the kids swarmed to greet her and we could see how pleased that made her.  But nothing could beat how pleased we were to see her encouraging the kids in the Kazakh class, patting them on the back and praising their efforts.

‏The Self Help Approach ‏- Helping the poor to reach their potential

‏In Afghanistan, many women are vulnerable and it is difficult for the women themselves to improve their situation. This is [...]

A Cast-Off Resource to Provide Needed Income

The Pamir Mountains are stunning – in beauty, in harshness of weather, and in the hard life endured by people [...]

Children in Azerbaijan

In the small Caucasian country of Azerbaijan, rich in oil and hospitality, there are many needs which Operation Mercy has [...]