The energy of the yesteryears in the nowadays

The commencement of the construction of the CHPP-1 named after B.Orazbayev became a genuine national construction project. At that time, entire families from all over the region flocked to Alma-Ata. It did not matter that most of them did not have the required qualifications – manual labor prevailed. Hammers, shovels, wheelbarrows, and crowbars have replaced the mechanization. Today, 90 years later, it is impossible to imagine how the station was built with such efforts.

Maria Maksimovna Katayeva, a veteran of the station, shared her childhood memories:

“During construction, Kazakhs from the auls came with their families on carts to help the builders – at least to feed them. The women cooked food in large cauldrons, the men poured the foundation by hand, and even the children carried water. The Kazakhs have a wonderful custom called asar, when everyone helps each other. We knew that soon we would all have glass light bulbs in our homes! The children were the most excited about this, because they would no longer have to clean soot from kerosene lamps.”

These images remind us that the light and warmth in our homes began with the shared dream and labor of thousands of people.

Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VlJwneq0M2s