ALUMNI REUNION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000306 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) INFO SCA/PPD (VAN DE VATE),EUR/ACE (BAILEY) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PREL TX SUBJECT: ALUMNI REUNION REFERENCE: ASHGABAT 00257 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Post's 2007 alumni reunion, which included alumni from a range of U.S. Government-sponsored academic and professional exchange programs, demonstrated that such events continue to provide needed psychological, professional and academic support to Turkmenistan's growing alumni community. In contrast with past years' reunions, this event, held January 27-28, brought in a diverse group of varying age, experience, language and expectations. Heated debate during the reunion revealed both a hunger for self-government and deep frustration over the difficulties independent groups faced in communicating with each other across Turkmenistan and in achieving legal recognition or permission for community activities. These difficulties in turn highlighted the positive impact alumni were having through small-scale action in their communities, and the leadership skills the younger alumni in particular gained from their experience in the United States. A Gathering of Expectations -------------- ¶2. (U) Post sought to break the traditional "reunion" mold with this year's conference, emphasizing both the traditional aspects of reunions -- networking, comradery and personal development -- as well as reinforcing a sense of community obligation and history. The alumni reunion, supported in the past three years by PAS and its implementing partners ACCELS and IREX, has favored English-speaking and younger alumni - those who participate in the academic exchange programs such as Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program and the one-year undergraduate UGRAD program in particular. Given the unique social and political pressures U.S. program alumni experience upon return to Turkmenistan -- where there are few opportunities for academic, professional or civic development -- post regularly reaches out to alumni to reinforce the alumni network and to ensure that the skills, knowledge and confidence alumni gain in the United States are put to their greatest use. ¶3. (U) Nearly 110 alumni from throughout Turkmenistan and representing most locally administered U.S.-sponsored educational and professional exchange programs gathered at the President Hotel in Ashgabat for the two-day reunion. With the introduction of the Community Connections program and a growing pool of alumni from the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP),Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) and other programs for adults, Turkmenistan's alumni profile is changing, although the FLEX high school exchange continues to produce the majority of Turkmenistan's alumni. This year, FLEX alumni comprised less than half the participants (just over 40),followed by 19 Community Connections alumni from this one-year-old program; ten alumni each from the Teaching Excellence and Achievement and Undergraduate Exchange Programs and seven or fewer alumni of the Muskie Graduate Fellowship, Fulbright Scholars program, International Visitor Leadership Program, Junior Faculty Development Program and others. ¶4. (U) Because of the pressures placed on independent actors and the psychological barriers to non-state-sanctioned activity in Turkmenistan, alumni are reticent to discuss the politics of their communities with the embassy or even among themselves as a community. Rifts within the main group attempting to establish an alumni community have been apparent for several years, as the group attempted to hold together and push forward efforts to register formally as an association -- first on the national level and then on the welayat and, finally, merely the Ashgabat City level -- still without success. The current Alumni Association board agreed, even with these rifts, to present its work and expectations to alumni who have never before attended an alumni reunion, many of whom had no prior knowledge of the years of work that has been committed already to the founding of an Alumni Association. The reaction was immediate and not always positive, but indicated an intense desire for increased communication and a need to reexamine the needs and expectations of Turkmenistan's growing -- and increasingly diverse -- alumni community. ALUMNI PROJECTS STRESS COMMUNITY COHESION, EDUCATION -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Apart from several sessions on the topic of an alumni association, the conference included a seminar on effective grant proposal writing. This session also underlined the purpose of the community action grant programs administered by the embassy and other international donors such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE),and emphasized that a "good" project is not necessarily expensive or high-profile. Indeed, many of the embassy's most effective grants have gone to support very inexpensive, simple projects such as public health seminars for at-risk youth or vocational training for small groups of women wishing to increase their personal independence and be able to make ASHGABAT 00000306 002 OF 002 a living. ¶6. (U) Breakout sessions on health, youth issues, minority groups and education followed, in which participants discussed and formed draft project proposals on the given theme. Among projects formulated during these sessions, which participants later presented in the general closing session: an etrap-level training program on anemia prevention; a project to mainstream disabled youth through sports programs, and computer and English training; the founding of an independent teacher training institute; and establishment of a youth resource center/leadership institute in Mary Welayat that would emphasize English language, computer and other professional skills. (Note: This proposal envisioned a center that sounded very much like another American Corner, but would serve a farming community far outside of Mary city where the American Corner is located. End Note.) COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (U) A side effect of this alumni reunion was that groups of adults and teenagers mixed on equal footing as leaders who must work together to achieve common goals in their communities. In the breakout proposal writing session on youth issues, FLEX alumni were heard dispelling misconceptions held by their older peers about their willingness to lead and work. Such discussion also helps to dispel some of the sense of elitism of which programs such as FLEX are accused in Turkmenistan. The emphasis on communication with the larger community is another avenue to counter such misconceptions and rumors about the programs, their purpose, and the beneficial effect they have on participants. Post believes such issues will become less pronounced as the community expands, more of Turkmenistan's citizens travel abroad and gain exposure to the outside world, and perhaps as the Government of Turkmenistan begins to examine the idea of large-scale host government-funded exchange programs. Ultimately, it is fear of the unknown and of instability that drives government efforts to obstruct post-sponsored programming, including exchanges. End Comment. ¶8. (U) Dushanbe minimize considered. TROUTMAN