Twenty adventurers are in the midst of a cross-country expedition to increase patriotic feelings among Kazakh youth and popularise the beauty and distinctive character of the country.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev launched the expedition, titled Menin Elim – Mangilik El (My Country – Eternal Nation) on Oct. 1 in Aktau on the Caspian Sea, and participants will spend the next two months driving across the country to Altai Mountains and back to the capital in the centre of the country.
The expedition on five cars includes a diverse range of people and professions, such as an ethnographer, a journalist, an artist, a blogger, a cameraman, a doctor and expedition administrators. They will visit the regional centres of all 16 regions of Kazakhstan, driving locally produced cars in order to promote the domestic automotive industry. The expedition will finish in Astana.
The official launch ceremony took place on the Aktau quay with the participation of Bolashak scholars, students of Nazarbayev University, leaders of youth organisations and ethno-cultural centres, as well as winners of international sport and science competitions.
The expedition reached its first destination, the city of Atyrau on Oct. 7, and it was in Aktobe a few days later.
As the expedition moves across the country, it holds events aimed at 16-29-year-olds.
“Our goal is to unite the people of Kazakhstan, especially the youth, by a common idea of the unity of history, culture, traditions of the people,” Evgeni Ribalko, the head of the project, said.
Photo exhibitions and video clips about the cultural, touristic and industrial potential of the regions will be presented along with car parades organised with local auto enthusiasts. The expedition will also collect about 10,000 wishes that Kazakhs would like to wish one another. Various competitions will also be held with the winners receiving a free sightseeing tour around the Mangystau region.
After the expedition, a film and a photo album summarising the journey’s brightest moments and the impressions of the participants will be presented to the public. The expedition is supported by the Mangystau Region Administration within Kazakhstan Strategy 2050 and the country’s tourism development programme.
