Wherever you live, it’s likely that there are events each day that affect your confidence in the values of the society around you – traffic violations and aggressive driving; disrespectful behavior on the streets and on public transit; shady decisions made in business or in personal interactions. All of these and more can lead us to start losing our hope for a society that lives by the principles of honesty and respect.
But everything starts from something small…
When Ruslan, a qualified football coach, approached Salem Social Village with a request to use our site for a master class in Footballing Fair Play, we as a charitable social organization saw a great opportunity to influence the future generation and society as a whole.
This young sporting enthusiast proposed holding a summer football club at Salem to train young guys aged between 9 and 14 in the principles of playing with honesty, which means dealing head on with the concept of ‘winning at any cost’.
Over three days these young people studied and began applying on the pitch the principles of respecting the opposition, following the rules of the game, and respecting the decision of the referee. Attendees learnt about what playing honest football looks like, giving everyone a chance to take part and resisting the use of any doping or other artificial stimulants. This young generation of Kazakhstan took on board lessons of self-control, remaining calm in any situation, and keeping hold of negative emotions.
As a non-profit organisation, we believe that all changes start small, for each of us: with our decisions to play honestly by the rules of the game, following traffic rules each day, giving up a seat to an older person, helping those in need and respecting the decisions of others. Only when we can become kind, upstanding and respectful to each other do we create the kind of society we all want to live in.
