March 1, 2005: Headlines: COS - Kazakhstan: Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin: John Kirk's financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Kazakstan : Peace Corps Kazakhstan : The Peace Corps in Kazakstan: March 1, 2005: Headlines: COS - Kazakhstan: Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin: John Kirk's financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-245-37.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.245.37) on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 3:30 pm: Edit Post

John Kirk's financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan

John Kirk's financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan

John Kirk's financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan

Leaving the "Big A" Behind

By Mieke H. Bomann
Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin
Spring/Summer 2005

John Kirk's coal stove was on the fritz. Not a good development in this, the coldest winter that Kazakhstan had seen in fifty years. And not the kind of problem that he ever had to solve in his previous life as a portfolio manager.

Kirk's dramatic life-change grew out of reflection inspired by public trauma-the terrorist attacks of 2001. At the time, he was traveling to New York every month from Philadelphia, where he worked for Prudential Financial. "The 9/11 tragedy was intense in the financial community," he recalls.

He found himself wrestling with his identity as an American, and with thoughts about the image of the United States elsewhere in the world. A chance conversation with a former Peace Corps volunteer proved decisive. "I wanted to share what I felt it was to be an American, not just some caricature of what some think it is," Kirk says. "The Peace Corps resonated strongly with me, like a kind of fate. This was a chance to do something significant by living abroad, to show folks that there was another side. I applied and was accepted the same day."

Kirk, an English major who graduated from Kenyon in 1987, had gone on to earn an MBA from Boston College. While of little use with coal stoves, the business degree and his financial experience have helped him immeasurably in his work as a consultant to the Taldykorgan Business Center in southeast Kazakhstan, about ninety minutes from the Chinese border.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, scores of nonprofit organizations sprang up in former satellite states like Kazakhstan to help deliver services the government no longer provided. Adept at securing financing from global institutions like the World Bank, these groups nevertheless had problems with program sustainability and long-range planning. The Business Center offers free needs assessments, organizational planning, marketing tips, and strategies for teaching English to area businesses and organizations.

In addition to forging relationships with his local professional colleagues, Kirk is coordinating staffing for a children's summer camp and working with an orphanage. He's also teaching training sessions for the next Peace Corps cadre and helping to establish guidelines for them.

"You really have to modify your expectations," says Kirk. "You have to learn how to rethink. You have to begin to appreciate not just what you have but what you need to let go of in order to have an impact on your community. You may not finish one project, but as long as you keep trying to transfer skills you can make a difference."

Approximately four times the size of Texas, Kazakhstan is witnessing fast if imbalanced development thanks to the single largest oil find anywhere in the last few years. If western Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources, the infrastructure in Taldykorgan remains decidedly low tech. Street lights are shut off at midnight to save energy. Telephone service often goes down for days at a time. Residents attach grips to their boots in order to walk the streets and sidewalks, which are not cleared of snow or ice.

"Children are still pulled by grandparents in sleds," Kirk says. "Walking down the street, you'll see a horse, a second-hand car from Germany, and 300 sheep coming right through the middle of town."

If living conditions are often challenging-the menu in winter revolves around horse meat, and indoor plumbing is rare-the openness of the people makes the hardships worthwhile. "There is such a sincerity to get to know you that it's overwhelming," says Kirk. "If you leave the big "D" [in democracy] and the big "A" [in America] behind, people will embrace you, and want to share their country with you."

As for Kirk's stove, once he thawed the interior pipes with a blowtorch and mopped up the flood created by melting ice that had leaked from the roof, things warmed up.





When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
The Peace Corps Library Date: March 27 2005 No: 536 The Peace Corps Library
Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Date: June 7 2005 No: 640 June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program
Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

June 5, 2005:  Special Events Date: June 6 2005 No: 622 June 5, 2005: Special Events
Vote in the NPCA Election for new board before June 15
"American Taboo" author Phil Weiss in Maryland on June 18
"Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25
"Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30
RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15
RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: May 29 2005 No: 607 May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
The Coyne Column: Love and War in Afghanistan 28 May
Sam Farr supports Coffee Growers in Colombia 28 May
Elaine Chao wins Woman of Valor award 27 May
Nebraska has strong ties with Afghanistan 27 May
Arthur Orr to seek Alabama State Senate seat 26 May
Murder of John Auffrey remembered in Liberia 26 May
Bill Moyers says journalists should be filters for readers 26 May
Linda Seyler spent two years in Thailand digging latrines 25 May
Chris Shays blasts Bush on stem cell research 25 May
George Wolfe to head Loudoun Academy of Science 25 May
David Rudenstine heads Cardozo School of Law 24 May
Mark Schneider says declaration is "pretty thin gruel" 24 May
Robert Blackwill supports seat for India on Security Council 24 May
Chris Matthews weighs Thomas Jefferson nomination 24 May
Jim Knopf is expert on xeriscape gardening 23 May
Mae Jemison receives honorary degree at Wilson 23 May
Kenneth Proudfoot says dreams come true 22 May

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000  strong Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong
170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kazakhstan

PCOL20619
28

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: