SSIO members organised a seventh National Volunteer Camp in a village in South Kazakhstan in early October 2017. More than 30 volunteers from five cities formed three teams to serve needy villagers. An education team worked with professional teachers to conduct a two-day educational programme that included lessons on Self-knowledge for children in grades 5–7. An orientation presentation for the parents of schoolchildren in grades 9 and 11 was also organised. Teachers of the local school assisted with any needed translations and helped the volunteers interact with children with love and warmth. The educators conducted seminars on the role of moral and spiritual education in the harmonisation of relations and the psychological stability of adolescents. At the end of the lessons, the children performed a concert that included songs, dances, and a very entertaining parable in drama form, titled “How a Muzhik (Peasant) Sold a Cow.”

Another team of volunteers spent two days removing and replacing worn floor tiles covering more than 90 square metres in an old school building. The volunteers whitewashed and cleaned doorways and windows and installed 12 new chandeliers in three classrooms.

A third team of three volunteers distributed food and household items to 35 needy families. The volunteers also presented large bags of clothing to two single mothers and their children and new shoes to another mother and her family of five children. The school administration, teachers, and local families expressed heartfelt gratitude for the selfless service rendered by the SSIO volunteers. As a token of appreciation, the headmaster presented two specially-cooked flat cakes to each volunteer.