Voices … about Kazakhstan
Almaty, Kazakhstan
In this roundup I will review English-language blogs that write about Kazakhstan and Central Asia (apart from those we all know - Registan , for instance). There are not many of them, but all are interesting and deserve reading.
News from the Caravan - blog written by 2 ladies, one of whom is a Kazakh national, features stories and news from Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and updates on items available in their store, which sells jewelry by Kazakh silversmith Serzhan Bashirov. It’s worth taking a look at those beautiful pieces of jewelry he produces. The blog has interesting reviews of films and music on and from Central Asia and posts personal accounts of Central Asians.
KZBlog happily announces its return. A blog written by a social development consultant from the US, working in Astana in a government-owned company, presents discussions on Kazakhstan politics, economy and culture. He reads English-language reports on Kazakhstan and is aware of the inside situation, so it’s worthy to read his views on current developments. His last post tells about CCCP Foundation, a charitable organisation that helps orphans in Karaganda to settle after the life in orphanage.
The Conjecturer blog, where editor Joshua Foust, who also contributes to Registan.net, and has several years in Karaganda as his experience, occasionally writes on Kazakhstan, like in this post on HIV/AIDS. His cross-post on Registan.net on HIV in Kazakhstan provoked quite useful discussion afterwards.
Finally, Sean R. Roberts, the Central Asian Affairs Fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, has well-written reports on Kazakhstan politics and economy in his Roberts Reports blog. See, for instance, his analysis dated 19 September of the Kazakh state attitude to 1986 student protests, as Kazakhstan opens the monument commemorating 10 years anniversary of the event.
That is what I came across so far, most of it is also represented in Global Voices Online Kazakhstan section. Needless to say, I would appreciate a comment if you find more.
on September 26th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
There are also probably a hundred blogs out there written by American and European adoptive parents chronicling their trips to bring home their children. mine can found at genicejacobs.tripod.com/baby/
on September 27th, 2006 at 1:26 am
genice jakobs,
great, thanks! I saw many blogs from adoptive parents, it’s probably worth researching how Kazakhstan became a country good for adopting children… Mostly these blogs have a specific goal of informing other prospective parentsof adoption procedures, but can be useful for all interested in the country as well.
on October 7th, 2006 at 3:12 am
May I suggest www.chrismerriman.com as well? To skip out the business orientated posts, just click on Kazakhstan and Personal…
on October 9th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Thanks, ChrisM! We will add it to our blogroll.
on November 26th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
apologies for the delay
thanks for the addition of the link, most appreciated…