On June 4, an international forum started in the Kurgan region, in which student journalists from the A. Baitursynov KRU and KSU (Kurgan State University) are taking part.
Let us recall that this forum was a continuation of the international project “Virgin Lands in the Historical Memory of Russia and Kazakhstan”, which was presented in March 2021. Its organizers are working on creating an electronic book of memory with the stories and names of the first virgin land workers.
During last year’s expedition, students have already collected more than 1,000 names and stories of virgin land workers from the Kostanay and Kurgan regions.
This year the expedition will also take place in two stages: first, Kostanay students will go to Russia, and then the search for names will take place on Kazakh soil.
Five students from each side met at the editorial office of the largest newspaper in the Kurgan region, Kurtamyshskaya Niva. The participants were divided into two groups.
On the first day, the Kazakhstanis were introduced to the history of the Kurgan region and, in particular, the Kurtamysh district, in the local history museum. Then the students went to visit the pioneers of virgin lands Galina Omelina and Leonid Katayev. The latter, by the way, developed virgin lands in the Kostanay region, Borovsky district (now Mendykarinsky.
- We plan to visit the villages of Verkhneye and Nizhneye, Belonogovo and Kostylevo, where we will meet more virgin land pioneers and their descendants. And in the village of Kamagan we will visit the grave of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Honorary Citizen of the Kurgan Region and native of Kazakhstan Umerbek Bimokanov, - says second-year student of the A. Baitursynov KRU Ekaterina Baynyasheva.
