ILS and SES Donate to Baikonur School - April 2010
Date of Donation: April 24, 2010
Benefactors: ILS & SES WORLD SKIES
ILS, SES and the Baikonur school system have had a relationship spanning over a decade. There are 14 schools in Baikonur, a few of which to whom both ILS and SES have previously given donations. This particular donation was offered to the Baikonur Comprehensive School #1, which has approximately 600 students, ages 7-17. They requested two interactive white boards, projectors, and laptops. SES and ILS each provided a set.
Although the equipment arrived in Baikonur before the VIP team, the school still wanted to show their appreciation by hosting both ILS and SES on the Saturday morning of the SES-1 satellite launch. Upon arriving at the school, we were greeted by the school director, Mrs. Vera Vasilyevana Glebov, who happened to be celebrating her birthday that same day. She was excited for our visit, as she said it would be a "double jubilee" for her.
There were nine ILS and SES representatives visiting the four-story, 50's-era school building that day. As we took a tour throughout the school, we were greeted by the smiling faces of bright young Kazakh and Russian students. Upon entering the auditorium, we were seated and then treated to a performance by the students. Ranging in various ages, the children performed ballroom dance and salsa, sang a Beatles medley and finished with a rendition of "The More We Get Together."
At the end of the presentation, they gave each of us a distinct hand-drawn card. The cards depicted scenes of space, their school, and famous statues. Written inside the cards, in both English and Russian, were lyrics of the finale song “the more we get together.” By the time we left, we were all very emotional, thanking Mrs. Glebov and her students for their generosity and hospitality.
For a more indepth version of events please see the baikonur dairy written by Edgar Villongco, Vice President, Market Communications at SES WORLD SKIES
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