Our recent fieldwork in Kazakhstan has been a whirlwind of meetings, insights, and new opportunities for our Save Tuba project. Here’s a quick recap of our exciting day.

Half of our team visited Kazakhstan International School (KIS) to meet with Leigh Pritchard, the assistant principal. After discussing their school’s structure, we learned that KIS does not assign homework to students. So she offered a new idea: integrating Save Tuba as an after-school activity. This concept was well received, and we’ve now revised our approach. We’re preparing for another meeting with KIS on Friday, where we’ll present this new direction to the principal and head of after-school programs. As we waited for our Yandex to head back to AlmaU, we admired the view of the mountains from KIS.

Meanwhile, Alnur and Khanjan were at Abai University, having a productive discussion about the project’s contract. They agreed to adjust the terms, particularly removing a specific compensation for insurance. This was a crucial step in making our collaboration smoother and ensuring that both sides are on the same page.

After returning from our meetings, our team immediately started working on revisions for the Save Tuba pitch deck. We aligned it with the new after-school activity concept, preparing for our upcoming meeting with KIS on Friday. Their initial feedback was overwhelmingly positive: KIS believes Save Tuba could be a huge success at their school, with parents likely willing to pay for their kids to participate in this engaging, educational experience.

In between all the work, we enjoyed a well-deserved lunch at AlmaU’s cafeteria, where we feasted on rice, chicken, and manty, a traditional Kazakh dish. It was the perfect break before diving back into updating the Abai agreement and refining our one-page pitch for Save Tuba.

We wrapped up our day with a meeting with Kendrick White, the Vice Rector for Commercialization at AlmaU. Kendrick has been an invaluable mentor to our team, providing us with resources, insights, and guidance as we move forward. During this meeting, we updated him on our progress and next steps, and his feedback will be instrumental in helping us advance the Save Tuba project.

Overall, it was a highly productive day filled with meaningful collaborations and exciting developments. We’re looking forward to what comes next and are energized by the potential for Save Tuba to make a lasting impact on education in Kazakhstan. Stay tuned for more updates!