History of success. Continuation

Part seven

Today I want to tell you another story that happened in the summer of 1994.
As I wrote, we have learned a lot of the first academic year and cooperated with various foreign organizations. So, one of the organizations was the British Council - an international organization representing the UK in the field of culture and education. We positioned ourselves as a school with in-depth study of the English language. English classes were held every day, five days a week! So, we decided to organize a trip of children to the UK for monthly English courses through the British Council. We gathered a group of children and were surprised to learn that children need to do passports, which I did. The interesting thing is that it didn’t even occur to us to suggest to parents to do this, we did everything ourselves. I passed through all the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while I found out where, who, how and when will make passports. Then there were no norms and rules for the production of passports for such groups, and no one had yet made them to children in such numbers. We were the first to collectively export children abroad. I am still grateful to the employees who worked two days off and wrote out passports to our group. Then they were filled manually.

Airplanes flew to London only from Tashkent, and air tickets had to be bought in Tashkent. From Bishkek to Tashkent 12 hours by shuttle bus.

We were very busy ladies, because there is so much work for us. What did we come up with? We sent our sons to Tashkent with cash in a bag, with a huge sum for those times. You can imagine how big! At that time, my son, Ermek, finished 8th grade, and Gaisha's son, Ramil finished 10th grade, and we sent them to Tashkent with this money by bus.

Now, such an option would never even have occurred to us! And then, I do not remember how and what we thought about. Now just from one memory, my hair stand on end, not like from an event! Now, so many years later, remembering this, we say that we just were fearless and very trusting women. Such a risk! Two guys with a package of money travel 12 hours by bus to an unfamiliar city! There were no phones, there was no connection at all with them! True, we worried, barely waited for their return. These are mothers!

Then I drove them to the Tashkent airport as well on the bus hired at the bus station. Can you imagine, I took a round-trip bus! And Gaisha took with her cash for studying in England!

However, when I went to meet them, I took a bus at the bus station in Tashkent. Everyone was very surprised there how the children went to England for a month to study and what kind of school organized such things. By the way, recently they began to open private schools in Tashkent.

What conclusion can be drawn from all this? The Almighty loves fearless and pure-hearted people! Everything turned out fine with passports and money and tickets! There were a lot of impressions from that trip for the children! Then every year we sent teachers with children to England. We awarded air tickets to children who were excellent students and activists! Here is a story!

Part eight

Finance, I think this is the most painful topic!

I already wrote about what kind of business woman we were. For many years we have been assured that "Ilim" - this is our ministry, not a business, and proclaim it everywhere. We serve our children, our homeland, and our future! To some extent, this is true, because we do not take money for making children successful, leaders at least for themselves, for conducting various trainings, for “pulling” hopeless children out of trouble, which they and their parents could not have overcome. More about this in the next message.

All the years, being the founders with Gaisha, we receive salaries on equal terms with employees. There was a time when I was tired with running between the ministries of education and finance, and the bank, I came to school and asked Gaisha: “Let's buy a car, otherwise it takes whole day to run around in the city center!” But she was categorically against: “What car? How can we drive a car when our employees walk?”

The Soviet system has deeply invested equality and fraternity in us! We could not allow ourselves to excel from our employees. We proclaimed our common cause and Ilim was our common brainchild!

We took all the money paid by the parents of the students to a bank in a safe place! But then these banks began to crumble one after another, but that's another story. “Always remember that your wallet and the wallet of the state are different! Never dare to confuse them!” She, having passed the Gulag, knew what she was talking about. “Always remember that your wallet and the wallet of the state are different! Never dare to confuse them!” She, having passed the Gulag, knew what she was talking about. And I, an obedient daughter, never allowed the idea to mix up wallets. In order to support our children, our families, Gaisha and I went on shopping tours for several years: India, Turkey, and Pakistan, and then went to Russia to sell these goods. Being the director of a private educational complex, I first sat with my children at the Spartak Stadium, then at the Dordoi and Orto-Say Market on weekends and traded. Then it became difficult to tear between trade and education, and I chose education. So we lived.

The owner of another private school often came to us and said: Why are you trembling over money? They need to be “twisted”, invested in another business. And I naively thought what a cool businessman; he knows how to manage money well! I envied that in his school there was a man who knew how to “twist”, but we did not know how. After a little while his school went bankrupt. He pulled all the money out of school. At that time, people often deceived each other, apparently someone let him down. As a result, he came to us and said that he needed money and asked us to buy at least something from him. The shops were empty and we agreed. We arrived at his school, and there were basins and buckets throughout the school, and water dripped into them from the ceilings. Children studied in such an environment, parents paid, they did not scandal, and they put up with everything. And he had, I think, five own children. After some time, he was arrested and the school was closed. It was a pity for him, he was a good man. What happened to him and his children, we do not know. How happy we were that we did not listen to him and did not touch children's money. Here we were lucky that we were not business ladies.

It was very difficult financially. There was never enough money. We were living paycheck to paycheck. Gaisha and I have not been on vacation for fifteen years! We were afraid to increase education fees, because we were worried about people, thought that it would be expensive for them. It’s always a pity to part with the children whose parents are taking them out of school because of higher pay, we felt guilty. And some parents didn’t even think about repaying debts; they took away the children and told us plainly that a personal file can be bought for cheaper money than they owe us. And now there are such parents, unfortunately. But we need to continue to work! We constantly thought how to earn more money? What else could we do?

Every year in the summer we did not have money for repairs, but we had a good friend at the bank, Nikolai Sterlikov. We took all our computers to the bank, and he gave us a loan for repairs. We consulted with him all the time and once we told him that we needed to open another additional business in order to make money, otherwise it is impossible to develop and maintain a complex. And he, a wise man, told us: “The Almighty has given you the gift of teaching children, so teach and don’t go anywhere else!” So we calmed down! Once and for all, we stopped thinking about it! But what kind of projects we had in our heads!

I want to conclude again how many good people are always around us! There are always those who support, help, reassure! I thank all of them!

Part nine

The story of children who entered Korea without passports!

We were always lucky with our parents, thanks to many of them; we were able to open more doors to the light and bright future of our students. For example, in the summer of 1997, our parents, who were citizens of South Korea, organized an invitation to a rally of scouts for our students, and for free. The trip organizers took full responsibility for our children in order to give them an unforgettable experience in the camp abroad.

We gathered twenty children and sent two teachers with them. We took them to the airport and arranged a solemn departure for the flight! In those years, only charter flights with shop tourists flew from Bishkek and the children spent sixteen hours in flight. Of course, we sat and waited for news when and how they would reach their destination. Arrived, all is well! And suddenly, at the border control, it turned out that we sent all the children with their birth certificates, which were completed by hand, in Russian and Kyrgyz, where there were no photos! The Korean border guards were completely perplexed by the fact that they did not know what kind of document it was? How this proves and confirms the identity of a person, and 20 children were already there and everyone had minimal English and it was difficult to explain something!

How did it happen? Why did our border guards release children with these documents? Unclear! It sounded like a bolt from the blue for us! What now? And as always, our parents came to the rescue. Thank God, they were able to agree with the border guards and let the children into the country! Can you imagine what the flight would be like for children if the children were sent back? What about a 16-hour journey with such expectations of fun and adventure?

The children lived one week in a scout camp and another week in families! They came with a lot of impressions, joy, and ideas! They said that after the camp in the mountains they carefully cleaned everything after themselves, put things in order. They had an idea to carry out such cleaning in our mountains. At that time, we often went to the Alpine camp with children and they saw every time our vacationers leave trash after themselves. We then had a lot of discussions about how great it would be if we loved our country, its nature, and cherished it. This trip gave the children not only wonderful memories, but also gave rise to their desire to improve the world.

In general, one of the most important educational opportunities is the ability to travel and learn new things from a different perspective. In our time, when the world does not stop in development, it is necessary to give children new ways of learning and opportunities to learn the world. It helps to develop nonstandard thinking, creativity and innovation in the younger generation. Therefore, as soon as we have the opportunity to send our children abroad, to all kinds of contests, presentations, competitions, training, we always try to push our children and their parents to this step.

Part ten

Today I will talk about how our children traveled in a large group for the first and last time in the United States. Then we sent about twenty children too.

In the summer of 1999, our children were invited to the United States for forty days. Our country was only opening up to other countries as a separate state from the USSR. And a group of our children, for charity, was invited to visit. They were placed in the camp for several days, and the rest of the time they spent in families. The American side has incurred all expenses. I guess parents only paid for organizational expenses. Our children were very well received and all that time they spent brightly and intensively. I have never heard any complaints from children that something was wrong. Americans are very friendly and compassionate! The image of the USSR was and remains not very positive in the United States. Therefore, the receiving party did everything to make our children comfortable.

My youngest son Kamil was the smallest in that group, he was about 10 years old. When I applied for his passport, the police asked me if I was worried about sending such a small one so far and for a long time. And I didn’t even think about it. So this little boy then didn’t even want to call home and say how he was doing. His American mother caught him and demanded that he call home and say that he was fine. He called for five seconds, quickly saying that everything was in order and he did not get bored, and ran away to play again. Those families had children and they made friends with our children. As they understood each other, I can’t imagine! Children were taken to the store and bought them what they wanted! This is such humanity! The children got presents for a couple of suitcases! But it was allowed to take only one on board the aircraft and Kamil then lamented for a long time that his gifts remained in the USA.

Younger children talked a lot about foreign cars, about trailers that they had never seen! About the good financial situation of these ordinary people. There were a lot of impressions!

Of course, it was not without adventure. They flew by KLM from Almaty to Amsterdam and then to the USA. We have used the services of this airline for many years. They worked very well! The company office provided a comfortable bus and accompanying staff. The bus had a bar and a toilet, which also really impressed our children. They devastated the entire bar while driving to Almaty, so then some children got stomach aches!

Amsterdam had the largest airport with huge duty free at that time. Our children, of course, went shopping. One boy, as I remember now, was called Daniyar, was stuck in a store, and the plane had to be held until he was found. On the way back, the same child repeated this experience again, and was also stuck in the store. After a couple of years, we sent him to the USA under an exchange program, he was again stuck in a store! That was definitely the problem of this child! And for the rest of the children it was just an adventure!

But there was something that made us very proud of our child!

Emil Kaipov, our modest quiet Emilka, distinguished himself on this trip! American newspapers wrote about him since he saved a drowning child! On the beach, in front of all adults and children, he made artificial respiration and brought that child to life! The Americans were very surprised at the little kid’s abilities. Our teachers accompanying children in the USA returned proud and happy from this trip. They said that when that child was drowning, everyone stood and looked, but no one dared to jump after him. A thin short boy Emilka saved him! Everyone was filled with pride for our children!

It should be noted that while being in Canada for a rather long time, I noticed that people here do not rush to help someone, as we do. Here they will look or turn away, but will help if you ask. There are a lot of tramps in the metro who ask for something, but the people respond very politely: "Sorry friend, no cash today." There is something to learn from us and something to be proud of!

Crises

There have been many crises in our history, which are now even scary to recall!

Autumn 1996, Gaisha flew to India in Bangalore for further training for 4 months. If you remember, I’m not a teacher, and I don’t know anything about the organization of education: what documentation should be in school, what are the requirements for the educational process, and so on. Gaisha made me attend classes and when I said that I couldn’t analyze them and that there was no use in my visits. She answered: “On the contrary, you can see whether the children are interested or not, the teacher is teaching the lesson easily or not, how he talks with the children, whether it is useful or not.” That was all my knowledge of education at that time.

Of course, it was difficult for me to let her go to India, moreover, for four months. I was in a panic! It’s such a responsibility! No connection with her, only letters that took weeks to get! No quick tips and support from my sister, who has always been a great authority in education for me! But there was nothing to be done, she flew away!

Everyone worked quietly and nothing portended trouble.

But suddenly, on the orders of one of the leaders of the country, a commission was established to check private schools in order to discredit private education and close the Ilim educational complex. Some members of the commission secretly told us about this. But history is silent about what "Ilim" prevented one of the leaders of the country!

Colleagues from public schools checked us, they were interested in what is being done in private education and they were quite friendly. But the endless calls of management with reminders of the purpose of the audit emotionally unnerved and strained them. The check was carried out with great violations and no one wanted to listen to us about the fact that it’s impossible, and it’s not humanly! They literally shook our soul out of us! Their claims were ridiculous, for example, we did not have programs in subjects. But no one gave them to us; they could not be bought or printed anywhere. We were lucky to have good neighbors; the director of school 48 met halfway and helped us in everything. We did not have our own laboratories, because we only worked for the third year, but we had an agreement with 48 schools, our children went there for laboratory work. We provided everything that was required in the educational process, and no matter what forces. But they also didn’t like it.

As a result, they issued certificates with remarks to other schools, and decided to close Ilim! They did not familiarize us with that certificate, and decided to finish us off at a collegium. A date for the collegium of the Ministry of Education was set, and we were invited. It pleased and scared us at the same time.

To my great happiness, Gaisha arrived! And she is not an ordinary fighter! When we were growing up, my mother worked very hard to feed us, and Gaisha was engaged in our upbringing, and not only ours. By the way, when we got an apartment in the third microdistrict, she organized a kids club and a library in the basement, where she brought our mother’s pride - all the books. Which didn’t return home later and our mother recalled it for a long time! Gaisha studied in the seventh grade, but had great authority in the yard among other children and everyone enjoyed spending free time in that club. On the summer holidays every morning at 7 o'clock she blew the pioneer hearth and called everyone for morning exercises. All the children came to join her. It was an amazing time! She protected us any time, she was always fair and honest! I already wrote that Gaisha is a leader in spirit and a very competent manager!

Let's get back to our story.

She said: “Do not panic, we will show that it’s not so easy to close us!” She gathered the leaders of all the schools that were checked. She drew up a protocol of all procedural violations and contacted the legal clinic in order to get a legal assessment of the commission’s actions.

She invited journalists to the collegium of the ministry to cover the process of destruction of private education in the country. The assessment of the legal clinic was written very competently, all references to laws and regulations were made. She was prepared very well!

We came to the college, sat down and began to wait for the results with bated breath. All the leaders of the commissions spoke. At that time, there were about four or five private schools in the country. The speakers were angry at the fact that private education was generally allowed! The collegium’s decision on behalf of the ministry was already prepared; it was printed out and should have been announced.

Then Gaisha asked for the word, because the last word is given even to criminals. She read out the conclusion of the lawyers, and defeated all the conclusions of the commissions! Journalists immediately rushed for the interview. We pre-printed the press release and the conclusion of lawyers and distributed them to reporters. The collegium members had no choice but to change their decision indicating the timeframe for correcting some violations.

By the way, the leader who organized this audit was also present at that meeting. And he had no choice but to exclaim: “Wow, Ilim!”

What helped us overcome the first crisis?

1. Willpower and spiritual strength of Gaisha.
2. Competence and good organization of protection.
3. Properly selected law firm.

Here is such a story! So, we survived our first crisis!