Dreaming Big
With the support of the Club, one researcher is working toward a greener energy future for her home country.
Standing before a packed Club ballroom, decked out in an embroidered jacket native to her Kazakhstan homeland, Saule Zholdayakova recites an African proverb: “When you educate a man, you educate a man. When you educate a woman, you educate a generation.”
The occasion is the College Women’s Association of Japan (CWAJ) scholars’ luncheon, and Zholdayakova is the recipient of this year’s ¥2 million non-Japanese, graduate scholarship from the Women’s Group and CWAJ.
Zholdayakova, 27, a technology and science doctorate student at Tokai University, in Kanagawa Prefecture, dreams of revolutionizing Kazakhstan’s renewable energy industry.
While the Central Asian country is rich in oil and natural gas reserves, pollution was rampant under Soviet rule. Urban factories spewed smog, agricultural runoff severely depleted the Aral Sea and the Soviet government conducted extensive nuclear tests in the region.
“Deep in my heart, it was a little dream to fix the environmental problems,” says Zholdayakova, who grew up surrounded by copper factories in the central mining town of Zhezkazgan.
Determined to study in Japan, Zholdayakova was awarded a scholarship by the Kazakh government to major in environmental sciences at Tokai University. A master’s followed.
Before embarking on her three-year doctorate program, she says felt pressure to return to Kazakhstan, where women are expected to settle down as housewives. After failing to secure funding for her studies, she applied for the CWAJ-Women’s Group scholarship, which is partly funded by proceeds from the annual Carpet Auction. It was her last hope.
“When I received the e-mail that I was selected, I was really surprised. I told my friend, ‘Read it again. Is it true?’” says Zholdayakova. “I understood I can’t go back right now. I have to use this chance.”
Her research is focused on developing hydrogen energy, which can only be stored and transported in rare, expensive metals. Zholdayakova is conducting experiments with a number of alloys made from metals found in abundance in her homeland.
Unlocking the hydrogen-absorbing properties of these metals, she says, has the potential to make hydrogen a viable clean energy source.
This summer, she will return home to present her research at Expo 2017 in the capital, Astana. More than 2 million tourists from 100 countries are expected to attend the world expo, with its future energy theme.
Kazakhstan is aiming for renewables to supply 50 percent of the country’s energy needs by 2050. While the focus is on solar and wind energy production, Zholdayakova would like to see that change.
“I want to try to be the first person to introduce hydrogen [energy] to the Kazakh people,” she says. “I know that maybe this is too difficult to do everything alone. I understand that. My dream is too big. But someone has to start.”
Visit the Women’s Group page to learn more about the organization’s charitable support.
Words: Nick Narigon
Image: Kayo Yamawaki
