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O 210633Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001546 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES/PCI (PHUDAK) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SENV SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  ENVIRONMENTAL NGO "REFLECTION" WORKS INSIDE 
ECO-SCHOOL IN TEMIRTAU, CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN 
 
ASTANA 00001546  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The environmental organization/NGO Otrazhenie 
(Reflection), physically located in one of 22 "eco-schools" in 
Kazakhstan, engages in community service projects, works closely 
with the Temirtau city council, and serves as the city's 
environmental information center.  The school and NGO have combined 
to promote an "eco-lifestyle," such as recycling, which has greatly 
improved this industrial city.  Students at School 16 teach 
environmental classes to each other, which motivates them to remain 
active in later years.  Reflection has found financial support from 
the Kazakhstani government, U.S. Institute for Soviet and American 
Relations (ISAR), EU, Global Environmental Fund, and the U.S. 
Department of State.  END SUMMARY. 
 
REFLECTION: ENVIRONMENTAL NGO INSIDE A SCHOOL 
 
¶2.  Temirtau is Kazakhstan's premier steel manufacturing town, home 
to the massive ArcelorMittal steel-mill complex, a major source of 
pollution.  So it is fitting that the Temirtau environmental 
organization/NGO Otrazhenie (Reflection), focusing on youth 
outreach, is located inside a school (Temirtau School 16, grade and 
high school combined).  Its director, Yelena Varganova, a trained 
ecologist, not only runs the NGO but also has a dedicated classroom 
in order to teach environmental courses as part of the school's 
regular curriculum.  Reflection also participates in community 
service projects and works closely with the city council, serving as 
its environmental information center.  The organization has five 
people on staff, plus numerous teacher, student, and community 
volunteers.  Reflection conducts seminars, training workshops, and 
conferences throughout the region to raise environmental awareness 
and promote sustainable development.  Reflection also closely works 
with other environmental groups in the region on projects that 
directly affect Temirtau.  In addition, it helped five other 
Karaganda schools achieve the "eco-school" designation. 
 
ECO-SCHOOLS IN KAZAKHSTAN 
 
¶3.  With School 16, Temirtau boasts one of Kazakhstan's 22 
"eco-schools."  In order to become an eco-school, the school must 
form an eco-committee composed of teachers, students, and school 
administrators to select activities.  The school also must actively 
promote an "eco-lifestyle" in the community, such as recycling, 
using lamps with less wattage, planting trees, and maintaining green 
and clean yards.  The recycling and yard cleanup projects have had a 
particularly telling effect on Temirtau, Varganova said. 
 
REFLECTION'S VARIOUS FUNDING, INCLUDING U.S. SOURCES 
 
¶4.  Although some of Reflection's funding comes from the government, 
it primarily relies on donor support.  In the past, it received a 
grant from the U.S. Institute for Soviet and American Relations 
(ISAR) Resources for Environmental Activists program to carry out a 
water-related environmental project.  The EU sponsored a children's 
video conference on the environment.  The Global Environmental Fund 
gave Reflection money to buy outdoor solar lamps for ten schools in 
the Karaganda region, which demonstrate alternative energy to local 
residents.  Reflection has also used this project to solicit ideas 
from children on how to use solar energy.  Varaganova traveled to 
the United States on a U.S. Department of State "Creating Community 
Partnerships" Grant in October-November 2008 where she garnered 
valuable information on how to teach children about healthy 
lifestyles, one of her missions at Reflection. 
 
¶5.  Varaganova said that she (and her NGO) does not just teach 
children about the environment.  She has organized a youth 
roundtable to prepare environmental protection and awareness 
projects.  Several students have attended international 
competitions, such as this year's group that went to South Korea to 
present their environmental project in competition with other 
international teams.  Students also prepare and teach classroom 
materials.  When students from other schools see students teaching 
each other about the environment, they become more actively involved 
in the learning process and more motivated to remain engaged in 
later years. 
 
 
ASTANA 00001546  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
RECYCLED EGG SHELL PICTURE AS GIFT 
 
¶6.  Varaganova showed REO several pictures on the school wall, made 
by children from garbage.  They were quite stunning and could easily 
have been displayed in several museums, including the Paris Museum 
of Modern Art.  Varagonova found a picture, made from discarded egg 
shells during a recent Easter Day celebration, and presented it as a 
gift to the REO.  It now hangs in the Embassy and is a touching 
reminder that education is far reaching, recycling can take many 
forms, and environmental education can have an aesthetic and 
artistic component. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  Kazakhstan -- a country polluted from heavy industry, 
massive industrial complexes, and Soviet era radioactive waste -- 
has a very positive and active environmental community.  Its 
committed citizens demonstrate a heightened environmental awareness, 
and NGOs actively engage as partners with local governments and 
communities to bring about positive change in society.  In this way, 
Reflection strongly exemplifies the growing role of civil society in 
Kazakhstan.  END COMMENT.