Before participating in the John Smith Fellowship Programme, I had little vision of what I would experience in the UK. The UK’s good governance, democracy and crisis management was a miracle for me and I had always wanted to learn about them. So, when I got the offer I did not hesitate to accept it although I had some obstacles.
When I arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday 5th June 2007, there were twenty three more young leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine who had arrived in Scotland to take part in the 2007 John Smith Fellowship Programme. There the 24 of us learnt about devolution and local self-governance, had meetings with the Members of Scottish Parliament and the Presiding Officer, and observed First Minister’s Questions. One of the most interesting visits was to the Scottish Parliament. There the new Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson welcomed us to the parliament and gave a presentation in which he spoke about the Scottish Parliament, his role as Presiding Officer, and his election to that post. We also participated in a Seminar Series on democracy, good governance and civil society in Edinburgh.
After arriving in London, I spent two weeks on an attachment period, pursuing a programme of individual meetings and work placements tailored to my particular needs and interests. Very well planned attachments, organized by the Trust, helped me to familiarize myself with most of UK’s crisis management sector. My attachments included visits to the Home Office, British Petroleum, Kent County Council, Westminster, London Fire Brigade and some important meetings with professional crisis managers. I also had a chance to meet Tom Brake MP. I was amazed to discover that he, as a member of the Parliament, uses public transportation – something I have never seen in my country.
The five weeks I spent in the UK were a real turning point in my life in both personal and professional terms. Living in an international environment and communicating with future leaders from the former Soviet Union inevitably changed my personal views on many issues and enriched my personal and practical experiences. It also helped me to broaden my perspective. And finally, being a John Smith fellow means making a lot of new friends and experiencing the wonderful feeling of being part of a strong fraternal community.
In sum, I would like to thank the John Smith Memorial Trust, the British Council and the UK Ministry of Justice for awarding me with the fellowship, thus giving me the opportunity to be a John Smith fellow.
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