Azeri teens premier digital stories at State Department

Nine Azeri teenagers presented digital stories about environmental issues, hunger, education and other topics at the State Department September 26 -- the result of two months of work in Azerbaijan and the United States.

The projects began in their own country when the students, who attend secondary school in three different regions in Azerbaijan, chose and researched their topics. Each student wrote a script, collected digital images, selected background music and recorded voiceovers. Then they put all these elements together during a two-week visit to the United States to produce compelling one- to two-minute digital stories.

The students created their projects as part of the State Department's Azerbaijan Global Connections and Exchange Program, which is administered by Project Harmony, a nongovernmental organization based in Vermont that promotes cross-cultural learning through technology.

Feride Bakirova, 17, created a digital piece about the need for after-school programs in Azerbaijan, which are not as plentiful in that nation as they are in the United States.

"In Azerbaijan, the schools are not so comfortable like in the USA," she said. "It makes us tired of school. If there’s something interesting [after classes], we will love school."

Feride told the Washington File that many Azeri students her age are interested in computers, and some enjoy other hobbies such as cooking and sports – all of which could be the focus of after-school programs. She enjoys handball -- "I love it!" – and would like to start a handball team in her school.

Anar Tahirov, 17, said he chose hunger for his topic because it is a problem where he lives, a town called Mingechevir in the north of Azerbaijan.

"I saw hunger in my community," he said, adding that "I could show [the digital story] to someone and attract more people" to work on the problem than by simply speaking about it.

All the students must spend at least 20 hours presenting their projects to various organizations in their communities when they return to Azerbaijan.

Elmira Huseynova, 17, said she chose to make her digital story about education because she wants to be a doctor and the labs at her school are not in good condition.

She identified corruption -- students have to pay their teachers to get good grades -- and lack of money for facilities as major problems Azeri schools must solve.

When they first arrived in the United States on September 15, the students traveled to Vermont and stayed with host families for two weeks, visiting Champlain College in Burlington, the capital city of Montpelier, the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory in Waterbury, and other sites.

They then headed south to Washington to present their projects to a group of officials from the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, after which they headed to the nearby National Air and Space Museum.

During the presentations, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alina Romanowski complimented the students on their digital stories and asked them what they found most surprising about the United States.

"I would say we didn't have culture shock," said Leyla Atakishiyeva, 17. The students agreed they felt at home with their host families. However, the nine-hour time difference between the United States and Azerbaijan was problematic, they said.

"If the only major difference was the time difference, you have adjusted [to life in the United States] very well!" Romanowski said.

She pointed out that two Azeri musicians were invited to play at the White House on September 25 as part of the State Department's new Global Cultural Initiative, which was introduced by first lady Laura Bush.

Romanowski told the Azeri students that they should be very proud of their country.

ECA's Global Connections and Exchange Program promotes civic education and cross-cultural understanding through the use of Internet technologies. The Azerbaijan program has provided Internet access and computers to 75 Azeri schools.

Additional information is available on Project Harmony's Web site, including links to the students' digital stories.

Other participants in the Global Connections and Exchange Program include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the West Bank. ECA also helps fund the BRIDGE program, which builds links between students and teachers worldwide, with a focus on selected countries the Arab and Southeast Asian Islamic world, as well as a school connectivity program with Armenia.

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