Friendship House has opened in Kyzylorda in southern Kazakhstan. Now, representatives of different diaspora communities have their own building to organize cultural events, meetings and joint projects. MIR 24 reporter Vitaly Popov visited the opening ceremony.
Kyzylorda region is one of the most multinational regions in Kazakhstan. Representatives of 35 ethnic groups live here. The region borders Uzbekistan, with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan nearby. In addition to the nominal country, Russians, Koreans, Ukrainians, Tatars and representatives of other nations also live in the region. They will now be able to celebrate holidays and preserve traditions in the new Friendship House.
Irina Shek, head of the German national cultural association, said: “When the first stone was laid, we were very happy that we would have our own space, equipped with modern technology. It's bright and beautiful here. Three floors, everything at a glance. And the most interesting thing is that the offices have no walls, they are made of glass. It's like a symbol that we are all united.”
The area of the three-story building is about 3.5 thousand square meters. The House of Friendship has a 200-seat concert hall, a 50-seat auditorium as well as workshops and creative studios.
“The building is huge, beautiful and very cozy. Now we can all organize joint events together,” said the head of the national cultural association “Slavs” Galina Shcherbakova.
Among the new settlers is an ethnic Chechen cultural association. In 1944, Chechens and Ingush people were deported to southern Kazakhstan. Nearly 27 thousand people came to the Kyzylorda region at that time. Descendants of the settlers still remember how warmly the locals received them, sharing food and clothing that eventually helped them survive the difficult war years.
“Compared to what we had before, this is beautiful. I want to express my deep gratitude to all the people of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs always open their arms to help our people. “A low bow,” said the head of the Chechen ethnic cultural association, Eset Pashayev.
Friendship House has 11 national cultural associations and public organizations, including the Journalists' Club at the People's Assembly of Kazakhstan, the national mediatization agency, and the Regional Council of Mothers. Donors allocated 3 billion 800 million tenge for the construction of the Friendship House, worth almost 600 million rubles.