In June of this year, Melhem employees attended ICT training at the IATP center in Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan. The employees learned basic computer and internet skills and achieved proficiency in various MS Office applications. Throughout the process, participants focused on how to apply their ICT skills in their jobs and realized how much it could improve business operations. Not long after the training, the company invested in three computers and connected them all to the internet.

Now the company keeps track of their clients through e-databases and finds and maintains new contacts online. Thanks to the modernized system, the company estimates it has improved its efficiency by almost 70 percent. The majority of employees’ time is now spent developing the company, which suits workers well, as their salaries are based on a percentage of the company’s profits. Melhem accountant Margarita Hemraeva explains, “Before learning IT skills, we spent most of our time doing paperwork and did not have as much time to seek out new clients. Our new IT skills are allowing us to spend our efforts in achieving our real goals—to expand our customer base and increase profits.”

Just recently, Melham established a significant new partnership with a client in China through internet outreach. Employees’ salaries are now four times what they were prior to the June training. In February and March of this year, staff salaries ranged from $100-150 per month. Since working with IATP, the modernization of their office and the acquisition of new partners through the internet, individual salaries have increased to about $400-500 per month.

Not wanting to be left behind, in September another local Turkmenabat firm, Azatlyk, specializing in market research and consultations, also furnished their office with three computers and began sending employees to training at the local IATP center. Employees have since used their new office equipment and skills for processing routine paperwork, as well as advertising and diversifying the company’s services. Azatlyk owner Agamurat Hallyev remarked, “Thanks to the IATP training, we understood that it was impossible to work without computers. Now our staff is using their new knowledge and skills to help us find new clients and increase our work efficiency and profits.” IATP has trained more than 30 representatives of the business sector since the IATP center in Turkmenabat opened in 2004.

In December, four IATP centers in Turkmenistan will graduate as Independent Internet Centers (IICs), each with a unique local partner and sustainability plan. The IIC in Balkanabat will be run by the local NGO Turkmen Society for the Deaf and Blind, which is also collaborating with American Councils in Balkanabat to support the fledgling independent center. The partner will continue to provide free training in computer and internet basics and offer free internet access, while American Councils will cover administrative costs and retain the current IATP administrator. In exchange, the center will offer consultations and information for users about American Councils’ exchange programs and other information about studying in the US. American Councils will also fund the new IIC in Dashoguz.

Under a different model, IICs in Turkmenabat and Mary have partnered with local economic associations (Hemayat and Gulnahal, respectively) to provide free internet access that is subsidized by offering low-cost technical training. The Turkmenabat IIC will continue to focus services on youth, low-income families, and people living with disabilities. All four of the newly-graduated centers will strive to support IATP’s mission of providing free internet access and ICT resources to support the personal and professional development of members of their local communities.

In IATP’s e-Government project trained more than 250 ministry officials in ICT skills necessary to make full use of their modern office equipment, improve bureaucratic efficiency, and streamline services for Tajikistan’s citizens. Migration Service Senior Lieutenant Istat Shomirzoeva recalls before she learned to use her computer it took her at least an hour to prepare a simple letter. Now it only takes her 20 minutes using word processing software. Her colleague Sergeant Ismoil Zokirov also explained that the office can now process documents required for passports much more efficiently and provide more timely feedback to their citizens via e-mail.

IATP also assisted organizations in developing electronic databases to improve their services for the public. A notable example is the International Organization for Migration, who worked with IATP to develop an e-database for shelter workers designed to document reports of human trafficking they receive from the public. The national database collects, stores, and cross-references information on both victims and alleged perpetrators of trafficking.

Over the years, however, IATP in Tajikistan learned that more than just white collar workers were interested in ICT training. Rustan Nasritdinov, a businessman and head of the agricultural NGO Lola Farming, has partnered with IATP for the past several years to streamline his own organization and provide more than 145 rural farmers with mobile training programs on how to use computers and the internet. Now, farmers research questions on the use of imported feed additives and treatments for common livestock diseases on the internet at their local IATP centers. Other graduates of the training conduct online market research to price their produce competitively and stay abreast of the latest developments in their field. Nasritdinov explains, “Earlier, most of the farmers in my region conducted business in the traditional way—buying and selling crops at the local market. Now, many of them do it online.” Some farmers have even established clients and partners abroad, selling and shipping to foreign markets.

Although IATP in Tajikistan will close its doors in December, the centers will live on and continue to serve their communities as Independent Internet Centers (IICs). IATP partners will sustain the mission of bringing internet access and IT skills to more individuals in Tajikistan, where still less than five percent of the population uses the internet. Upon graduation, Tajikistan will have a total of six IICs in cities and regions across the country: Kulyab, at a branch of the Technological University; Khujand, at the Pulatov Private School; Kanibadam, at the headquarters of the local NGO Civil Bridges; Dushanbe, at the Science Academy Library; Garm, at the NGO Rasht; and Khorog, at Khorog State University. Director of the Science Academy Library and soon-to-be head of the Dushanbe IIC Alla Aslitdinova remains deeply committed to the program, “The IATP program made a considerable impact on a wide range of individuals in Tajikistan by providing opportunities for all levels of human development—from as lofty as broadening an individual’s worldview, to as concrete as helping them find a job. Our goal is to help these centers continue to do just as well in the future.”

The Gori IATP Center will become Georgia’s 13th IIC. Gori State University, its current host, will take over operations after the December graduation and will continue providing free ICT training and internet access to the Gori community. The center will also maintain its special focus on serving internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the 2008 conflict with Russia who live in the local community.

Three other IICs are also based in universities across Georgia—in Tbilisi State University, in Kustaisi’s Georgian Scientific Academy, and in the Poti Engineering-Economic State Institute. IATP also has transferred services to successful IICs in libraries in Telavi, Khashuri, Batumi, Kutaisi, and Tbilisi, as well as in NGOs in Rustavi, Zugdidi, and Gori.

Because a primary focus of IREX’s mission for IATP emphasizes internet access and technical training for the most marginalized segments of society, transfer strategies ensure that partners do not take over an IATP center as purely commercial ventures. Each partner signs an agreement when they become an IIC to continue offering a minimum number of hours of internet access and technical training to their community free of charge.

Some IICs in Georgia go above and beyond; the IIC in the Batumi Public Library (graduated in March 2009) does not simply offer a minimum number of hours, but continues the full spirit of IATP by offering free services and training at all times. In many sense, libraries are a natural partner of IATP as the IICs’ missions are similar to their own—to be a resource of information and education to an entire community, free of charge. Batumi Public Library Director Genadi Makharadze addressed a room full of the IIC partners in September, explaining, “I definitely understand the importance of the center for the local community, as well as for improving library services, and therefore I vow that as long as I will be the head of the library, all the services at the IIC will remain free of charge and the center will work for the benefit of the whole community.”

The library worked hard to find money in their budget to retain the experienced IATP trainer and administrator so that the proven, high-quality training courses would continue. The bustling center continues to see nearly 200 visitors every month, including users, such as Lela Verdzadze, who recently drew on her ICT training to conduct market research, come up with a business plan, and launch her own driving school business with her father.

Other IICs in Georgia are using paid services to subsidize free internet access for the public. The Rustavi IIC, for example, partnered with the local NGO Georgian Association of Educational Initiatives (SIQA) to charge a fee for technical training courses and maintain four hours of free internet services per day. “People pay because our trainings are of high quality,” explains SIQA Director Giorigi Tvaliashvili, who says the strategy has been sustainable for a number of years.

Since June 2007 alone, IATP in Georgia has welcomed over 9,000 visitors to its centers and has trained over 10,000 local residents in ICT skills. Not only do these impressive stats rank Georgia in the top three of all IATP countries in Eurasia for the combined number of visitors and trainees (outpacing even Ukraine, with a population of 45 million), but Georgia ranks first in the number of users who receive technical training from IATP staff. In fact, it is the only country where the number of trainees, on average, exceeds the number of regular visitors at IATP centers. With an excellent record of graduating sustainable IICs, IREX expects these local internet access centers will continue to meet the growing demand for information and technology training in Georgia for years to come.

When graduates of Comrat School No. 6 in the Gagauzia region of Moldova learned in May that their alma mater was at risk of being closed due to a lack of government funding, they were shocked; the news broke amidst preparations for the school’s 40th anniversary celebration. A dedicated group of alumni, led by graduate and local resident Vitalii Stanciu, organized to advocate to save the school. After registering an official association with the Department of Justice and leading community outreach events, they began to receive local news coverage.

Stanciu and the group then came to the local IATP Center in Comrat—the only center in the region offering free internet access and technical training—to leverage the technology and know-how to help spread their message. Working with IATP staff, they created a online wiki resource explaining the looming closure, detailing the group’s goals of the association, and calling on others to join the association’s efforts to save the at-risk school. To increase traffic to their wiki page, Stanciu and the group also used IATP resources to e-mail the site’s link to their database of graduates, both in Moldova and abroad.

Although the organization’s outreach efforts specifically targeted alumni, they were also successful in bringing the plight of the school to the attention of the broader community. IATP trainee Dorin Rusu echoed the sentiments of many Comrat residents, saying, "I personally never studied at School No. 6, but I was really disturbed by the decision of the Department of Education to close it. In two years, my son will start school, and as a parent, I want him to go to a school that is close to home. I join with all the graduates and the students of the school who are trying to revive it and return it to its former glory as one of the best schools in Comrat. Together, we can really make a difference."

Within four short months Stanciu and association members had raised enough funds to purchase a school computer, printer, scanner, copy machines, and a digital camera. They presented the gifts to the school on September 1, 2009, on the traditional Day of Knowledge ceremonies commemorating the first day of school. Addressing the crowd of students, teachers, parents, and community members, Stanciu credited the support of a wide network of alumni: "This is only our first step on the way to rescue our home school. The gifts are small but were bought thanks to the generosity of many caring individuals, including numerous graduates from all around the world.”

The association quickly got to work on a larger and more pressing goal—to repair the school’s damaged roof. Appealing to donor organizations, philanthropic business owners, and their established alumni group, the organization again employed the resources of the local IATP center to create an official website for their association, Tucaneasca, named after the local district. Soon supplies were purchased with donations received from the community’s tireless fundraising efforts and repairs were made by the association members themselves. On October 24, 2009, School No.6 in Comrat celebrated its 40-year anniversary under a newly-laid roof.

Overwhelmed, School Director Nelly Tricolici expressed his gratitude to supporters at the anniversary celebration, “This summer, former graduates took this school under their care. I never could have dreamed that within one summer, the school’s physical building could have been restored, and that on the school’s 40th anniversary, it would be buzzing proudly with students, parents, teachers, guests, and employees of the Department of Education of Gagauzia. Our pupils are again actively involved in extracurricular activities, such as writing for the school newspaper, playing basketball in the gym, preparing for theater performances, and many other things. In short, life will go on at School No. 6 because now it is safe and no longer at risk.”

The story of Tucaneasca and School No. 6 is just one example of what concerned, dedicated community members have achieved by harnessing local ICT resources to assist them in their missions since IATP first opened its doors in Moldova more than ten years ago. Moldovans from all walks of life and professional backgrounds have used the training, technology, and free internet access available at IATP centers across the country for personal, professional, and community development. More than 100 young women gained ICT and leadership skills through the Tech Age Girls (TAG) program, which helped them find employment opportunities and reduced their vulnerability to human trafficking; over 240 medical professionals representing 13 institutions and six regions participated in the MedIT program designed to improve patient services across Moldova through digital record-keeping; and dozens of librarians have graduated from the IT4Librarians program with the knowledge to leverage online information resources and provide modern library services in their communities.

Beginning in December, four graduated IATP centers or Independent Internet Centers (IIC) will operate in Moldova. The IATP center in Chisinau will continue offering services as an IIC under the management of Moldova State University, providing free internet access and training to community leaders—such as NGO representatives, librarians, entrepreneurs, and media professionals—as well as Moldova State University staff and students. Similar services will be offered by the center in Comrat, whose operations will be overseen by the Gagauzian Department of Education. The center in Tiraspol, Transnistria, will continue to be the only source of free internet access in its region and will be sustained by the NGO World Window Youth Information Center. The NGO plans to offer paid technical training to cover the center’s expenses but continue to provide internet access to the public free of charge. These three will join a fourth IIC in Causeni, operated by the Creativity Center for Children. Together they will continue to be a resource for local residents and organizations, such as “Tucaneasca,” who are working to bring new opportunities to their communities.

Members of the NGO YTPA participated in Web design training at the local IATP center in Tbilisi in March 2009.  During the course, all participants have the opportunity to create their own website and have it hosted on the IATP server in their country. Not long after YTPA’s new website went online, several high school principals in Tbilisi contacted the NGO to inquire about their services and potential collaboration because they had seen the website.  Principals from schools #173, 177, 208, and 39 decided to cooperate with YTPA and all signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the organization to conduct training sessions for students on how to better communicate with their parents.

Not long after the first four schools signed MoUs with the NGO, five others followed suit and soon schools #167, 115, 6, 69, and 71 will have workshops of their own.  An additional 500-600 more students will participate in similar training aiming to help bridge communication between parents and their children.

YTPA Executive Director Nana Chopliani says that they knew a website was important, but they did not expect such a significant benefit so immediately, "We decided to develop a website since every serious organization in Tbilisi needs one.  We knew a website was an effective way to communicate with customers and stakeholders and that it enabled us to more effectively and efficiently deliver information to our target audiences. But honestly, we had no idea how much it would impact our NGO and so soon after its creation. Thanks to our website, we have established many relationships with new partners. It’s such a great start for us and we’re so grateful that we had the opportunity through IATP to do this.”

IATP’s server in Tbilisi hosts 672 websites for Georgian projects.

In less than a year, two young women in Moldova have jump-started their careers thanks to the ICT training they received at the Comrat IATP Center.

Natalia Doicu is the most recent IATP graduate to successfully land a job thanks to her new ICT skills. A 21-year-old graduate of ICT training in Comrat, Moldova, she secured a job as office manager at the NGO Public Movement of Women with Large Families and Women Entrepreneurs of Gagauzia.  Over ten applicants competed for the position of office manager, all of whom demonstrated good ICT skills. What gave Doicu the advantage, was her strong skills in Web design acquired from IATP training in Comrat.  The NGO recognized that they needed to do broader outreach work online and Doicu, they decided, was perfect for the job.

One of Doicu’s first tasks was to use her ICT skills to take information about the NGO’s mission from their website (http://msfmmci.md.iatp.net/) and develop a wiki page using the information. She then made the text on the Wiki page available in three languages: English, Romanian, and Russian (http://msfmmci.wikidot.com/).  This enabled the NGO to reach out not just to local partners, but also foreign partners and donors. Soon after Doicu was hired, the NGO was awarded a grant funded by the government of Japan and the UN Trust Fund for Human Security for a project that targets women vulnerable to human trafficking and domestic violence in the region of Gagauzia.

Doicu is the second young woman in the last year to find a job in her hometown thanks to skills she received at the local IATP center. Eighteen-year-old Xenia Terzi, a finalist of the Tech Age Girls project (TAG), was the first. It has been almost a year now since Terzi was offered the well-paying job at a salon in Comrat.  She continues to work as an expert hairstylist and manicurist using specialized software and a Web camera to provide her clients with options for hairstyles based on their face structure, hair length, and complexion.  With Terzi’s help, the salon became a popular and respected location in Comrat.  Terzi commented, "My success is directly connected to IATP."

TAG is a program implemented in Comrat designed to equip Moldovan girls from disadvantaged families and rural areas with technology skills, helping them secure a brighter future in Moldova. Quality employment reduces their risk of becoming victims of human trafficking.  Over 100 young women in Moldova have learned ICT skills for their educational and professional development through TAG.

“Our offices have modern technology – each room has at least one printer and other technical equipment. Many of these officials, however, cannot effectively use them due to a lack of IT skills,” explains Senior Lieutenant Istat Shomirzoeva.  “A few of our employees do possess ICT skills but when they are away, other staff members are not able to carry out the simplest tasks, such as typing a text.”

Shomirzoeva, an IATP graduate herself, explains how much of her work has become much more efficient thanks to ICT knowledge.  One of her duties is to prepare official responses from the Service and have the senior officer sign them. Before being trained in ICT, she said this whole process took her almost an hour. She had to hand write the letter, then wait for it to be typed up by another, and then get it signed by the appropriate official. “Now that I can use the computer myself, it only takes me 20-30 minutes to complete this process – less than half the time it used to take.”

The internet basics training is also opening up new opportunities for government workers to establish online correspondence via e-mail with customers and colleagues in other locations, including abroad. Sergeant Ismoil Zokirov remarked, “We work with citizens on passport-related matters and closely cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other state bodies, and international organizations. Before attending training, we would receive an inquiry, for example, from Russia and have to use much more time consuming means such as the mail, fax, or telephone to respond to even the simplest of questions. Now, those of us that have ICT skills can respond immediately to requests and questions with a simple, quick e-mail.”

Since June 2007 to October 2009 more than 250 officials have completed IATP trainings within the framework of the Migration Management project.

Maral Annaorazova is one of only four primary doctors at the Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention Center in Balkanabat, Turkmenistan. The demand on her time is great. The hospital regularly houses 90 in-patients (an average of 23 in her care) and doctors see an additional 60 patients (about 15 each) by appointment daily. In a modernized hospital, these conditions would be challenging but until last year, Annaorazova still worked in a medical facility where all the paperwork was completed by hand. Thanks to USAID-donated computers and IATP training last winter, a year later her workload has become more manageable and she is more satisfied with the patient care she now has the time to deliver.

Last September, the TB center in Balkanabat was the recipient of two computers from the USAID-funded Project Hope. Last winter, Annaorazova along with eight of her colleagues from the TB Center attended IATP training and studied the full range of equipment and software used in a modern hospital. Less than a year after Annaorazova and her colleagues completed IATP training, the Center now works with electronic patient registration templates, a digital patient database, electronic archives, and electronically composed documents and reports.

Annaorazova explains that before the digitization of the hospital’s routine paperwork and procedures, it was not uncommon for her to spend half of her day seeing appointments and filling out medical charts by hand. She reports that the paperwork alone consumed 10-15 percent of her day. “I could have used the precious time I spent filling reports out by hand, to see my patients and attend to their needs,” reports the doctor.

Thanks to an updated system, one of the health care administrators, Amanbagt Rahymova, has cut her workload by 80 percent. One of the two computers went to Rahymova’s office as she is primarily responsible for maintaining all hospital records, for maintaining the patient database, and for filing routine reports to central authorities. She was one of the IATP graduates of the computer basics and MS Office applications training. What used to take Rahymova an hour to do by hand, she reports, now takes her only ten minutes by computer. “Using MS Word and Excel has made my work so much more efficient. Now I have more time to fulfill other duties,” she reports.

Part of this saved time she spends assisting Pediatrician Annaorazova. Annaorazova notes that Rahymova assists her in her own paperwork which gives the physician almost twice as much time to spend caring for patients. “If I spent 25 minutes with a patient before, now I have more than 50 minutes to spend with them. For this, I am so grateful.”

But Annaorazova is the only doctor Rahymova has time to assist. The workloads of the three other physicians remain heavy. Rahymova suggests there is much more to be done and notes that once the facility can acquire more computers, at least one for each doctor, the impact will be four times as great for the hospital and its patients.

Rahymova goes on to envision computers at all eight of their village branches in the Balkan region with staff working themselves with a digitized system after being trained in ICT skills. Head of the TB hospital Kurban Tachliev says “IT training has had such a great impact on the hospital’s day-to-day functioning as well as our staff’s performance….I am waiting for the day we can equip our branches in the villages with computers and provide the doctors there with IT training. We would then be able to network our facilities and communicate so much more easily when exchanging information and reports.”

Over 40 medical professionals in Turkmenistan have participated in IATP training over the last year mastering computer basics and MS Office applications. Countrywide, 1,000 people in Turkmenistan have participated in over 3,300 IATP training courses since last September.

University students Andrey Leskin, Kristina Puzarina and Madina Aliyeva are using their IATP training to help make a difference in their communities and in the lives of other young people in Turkmenistan. The three scholars are all studying abroad at the American University in Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishek, Kyrgyzstan, but haven chosen to spend their summer breaks and spare time sharing their knowledge and experience with their peers back home.

Leskin had some ICT skills before being introduced to IATP in 2007. He was soon to start his university career abroad, however, and knew he could benefit from more advanced computer training. Leskin completed courses in internet research and graphic design at the IATP center in Turkmenabat. During the course of the training, he also discovered online forums and became a regular participant in various international online discussions.

With a passionate interest in nanotechnology, Leskin decided to create his own online forum on the subject. Despite the niche topic, the forum attracted a strong interest both in Turkmenistan and abroad. In fact, many users at local IATP centers in Turkmenistan use the forum regularly to practice their ICT skills and learn something about the emerging field of nanotechnology. Leskin admits, “I’m a social person by nature, and I really enjoy communicating with people and discussing ideas even if it is done virtually. I really want other young people to have access to the latest global information such as nanotechnology, and I appreciate IATP centers providing us with the resources to do this.”

Kristina Puzarina and Madina Aliyeva first discovered IATP in their hometown of Turkmenabat while they were still in high school in 2005. They completed a series of training sessions on internet search skills, Web design, and graphics editing. Drawing on their ICT training, they applied online to universities abroad and explored options to fund their education using scholarship information they found through their research. Thanks to their efforts, Puzarina and Aliyeva were accepted into AUCA and both awarded academic scholarships.

Each summer they return to offer workshops to their peers through summer camps at the IATP center in Turkmenabat. As international relations majors, they selected European Studies as the theme of their August camp this year. Their interactive training sessions for 15 young people included PowerPoint and video presentations that the pair of veteran ITAP users created on European culture and art.

In one seminar entitled “A virtual trip to Europe,” Puzarina and Aliyeva guided students on computers through the process of browsing embassy websites, online tourism resources, and useful information on higher education programs in Europe for international students.

In a previous summer, Puzarina conducted a seminar for students on how to do their own graphics editing with Photoshop so that young people that need photos for university applications could prepare them on their own, rather than having to pay a studio to do the work for them.

Recently, both young ladies had a chance to reflect on how IATP has helped them achieve their goals. As Puzarina explained, “The IATP center in Turkmenabat helped give me a great start. Not only do I owe so much of my computer and internet skills to them, but they are giving me the opportunity to realize that I can be a trainer and leader in my own community. I feel it’s my turn to give back to my peers and I hope other people my age will be inspired to aim for their own success and achieve their highest dreams. Maybe some will even study abroad themselves one day.”

In a sign of how ICT training opens doors to young people in Turkmenistan, Puzarina and Aliyeva are also Future Leaders EXchange (FLEX) alumni who created websites to document their exchange experiences in the US. Aliyeva’s website even includes information about Turkmen Holidays. IATP has trained over 3000 students in Turkmenistan since June 2007.