The legacy of ancestors

Why is the project important?
The source of the national ideology of each nation is its national culture, history, language, customs, traditions and national games. In the past few years, in our country there has been a process of intensifying the revival of traditional culture and spirituality, but nevertheless, today, in our society, the problem of violating the continuity of national cultural traditions, cultural education, and cultural development of the country remains. The issues of the lack of spiritual and moral education of the young generation of Kyrgyzstanis, the high growth of nationalist manifestations, the washing out of national and cultural traditions, and the decrease in the level of patriotic consciousness on the part of young people are actual problems today. As a result, a decrease in the level of culture is observed in most of the young generation of Kyrgyzstanis, which in turn leads to an increase in criminal manifestations, aggressiveness, and a negative attitude towards the older generation.

From time immemorial, the people of Kyrgyzstan have been given an important place in folk games among children, youth and adults, which contributed to the formation and development of critical thinking skills, strategy, the ability to search for innovative solutions, the development of emotional, physical and mental development. Without folk games, festivities, holidays and other important events were not held. The nature of many national games is associated with living conditions, customs and traditions of the people.

In our country, where representatives of more than 80 nationalities live, where each nation has a culture that includes the games they create. Today, some games that have come down to us are held without any changes, some have been updated based on the needs of modern society, but unfortunately, they are used only at large-scale events of national importance. This is due to the fact that young people do not have information about the history of occurrence, the significance of the game for the spiritual and moral education of youth, and the necessary resources for holding these games.

The distribution of the games of the people of Kyrgyzstan among young people will contribute not only to the study of culture, life, customs and traditions of another nation, but also to the formation of critical thinking, respect for other nationalities, traditions, customs, tolerance and humanity.

The project covered the Chui region of the Kyrgyz Republic and the following were involved in the project:

• young people permanently residing in the Chui region;

• local communities, elders and custodians of traditional knowledge.

The process of collecting and communicating information to young people about the national games of the people of Kyrgyzstan will involve young people, representatives of local communities, elders and custodians of traditional knowledge who are interested in preserving the culture, customs, traditions of their people.

Based on the information collected, a compilation with information content about the national games of the peoples living in Kyrgyzstan, the Atlas of National Games of the People of Kyrgyzstan, will be developed. The atlas will be distinguished by clarity, colorfulness. Next will be released a set of national board games “Ancestors Chest”, which will include at least 5 selected national board games of the people of Kyrgyzstan, each of which will be informative and philosophical in nature.

The developed tools can be used as educational interactive material that can be used in lessons in educational institutions during the camps.

The aim of the project is to collect information on national games of the people of Kyrgyzstan, selected by young people from elders and custodians of traditional knowledge, to create an “Atlas of national games of the people of Kyrgyzstan”, which will contribute to the development of respect for other nationalities, traditions, customs, as well as tolerance and humanity, widely used through games in the education of the younger generation.

Tasks:

• Collection of materials, development and replication of the Atlas of National Games of the People of Kyrgyzstan with the involvement of young people, elders and custodians of traditional knowledge of the people of Kyrgyzstan.

• Development and replication of the set with the national board games "Ancestors Chest", which includes at least 5 games of the people of Kyrgyzstan.

• Presentation of project results at the national level.

Project Duration:
From March 2019 to this day.

Key partners of the project:
The project is being implemented by the Youth Development Institute with the support of the Zhashtar Demilgesi Small Grants Program of the Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy Fund