Spreading Debates among Youth in Arslanbap

One of the most common young-adult issues in our society is that older people do not take young adults seriously. Usually there is not even a space for their opinion; older people do not let them speak it out in a way.

Muratbek Kochkorov is one of the young people in Guhmansk village of Arlanbap region, who faced this issue. He could not even get a chance to be heard at some point of his life: at school and in the family. 

Before attending the Demilgeluu Jashtar project, Muratbek was interested in videography and photography. After he became a part of the project, it made a significant change in his life. The project taught him how to build strong arguments and solid viewpoints on certain topics, which helped him to overcome stereotypes that the society shapes.

Muratbek grew professionally and personally throughout the debate experience. Now he is able to have real discussions on serious topics with his family members and other people, and they listen to him. He realized that age does not define anyone. Every young person’s opinion matters, now Muratbek feels that his ideas and opinions have a real meaning.

For the first time when Muratbek became a part of the Demilgeluu Jashtar project, he could not even think that something in his life is going to change after. Fortunately, this project was the first one that brought such a huge impact on his life. Muratbek notes that he would not be able to open up his hidden talents and achieve the success that he has now, if not the participation in the project.

Now Muratbek is a young conscious citizen of his country. He is an activist and volunteer in his community, whose parents and siblings think and truly believe that he is able to change their reality for the better. He found his place.

The Demilgeluu Jashatr project gave a huge portion of inspiration to Muratbek. He started thinking about his community and other young ambitious people just like him.

The project helped him to realize how important it is to help the community and try to change things in our society for the better.

Muratbek won several debate tournaments, also nominated as the best speaker. Currently he is promoting debates among youth in Guhmansk village, working hard on teaching other schoolchildren how to debate and build strong communication skills.

After the project, a lot had changed in Muratbek’s life. His goal was to grow professionally in the terms of debates, but he got much more than that. Now he is aware of issues that are taking place in his society, and he is taking actions to solve them.

Muratbek is a young leader of his society who can help others to find their place in the society. He knows how to be a good teacher and mentor, as he mentioned it does not matter how old this teacher or mentor is.

The Demilgeluu Jashtar project is funded by USAID and is focused on increasing civic participation of youth and preparing them for the labor market by creating various opportunities.