Our last night in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Good morning and Happy New Year! Here are just a few photos from the gazillions that Kaylee and I made during our nine-day spell in Tash-Kumyr. Her and I resettled ourselves in Bishkek last night after a ten hour cab ride over the never ending, winding, icy, and perpetually terrifying Osh-Bishkek Road. I must admit, though, that the scenery was truly worth it. Gorgeous snowy mountains and the the bluest river I’ve ever seen were with us the entire way. It was a welcome change from the dreary sights in Tash-Kumyr.
We went to Tash-Kumyr for the purpose of documenting young people mining coal. Minor miners, if you will. But after arriving we found that the topic of children mining was just a small part of a larger, troublesome reality. A wealth of crumbling storefronts and tattered billboards that once accurately touted a village with sparkly mining equipment and beautiful mountain scenery constantly reminded us that life has drastically changed for every one of the town’s residents since Kyrgyzstan became a sovereign nation in the early 1990s. Young people working in coal mines is just one of the many byproducts of this change.
During the Soviet era, proper mining equipment, healthcare, and jobs were easy to come by, but with the fall of the USSR, Tash-Kumyr’s local economy dried up. China and Russia-bound coal trains stopped running through town. The wood from Russian forests that was used to build support beams in underground mines no longer found its way in to Kyrgyzstan. Existing equipment was sold to other countries for the sake of bringing in a few bucks. The local employment rate fell from 90% to 10%. The town soon found itself revolving around a wild, rogue, completely unregulated coal mining industry.
Over the course of our visit we met several of the countless permanently disabled victims of coal mining accidents from the last 20 years. These folks don’t have enough money to provide for their families, let alone to receive proper health care for the injuries they’ve sustained. A government-sponsored social fund provides about 60 U.S. dollars to these families per month, which is almost more affronting than helpful. However, hundreds of the town’s 20,000 residents risk these types of injuries every day during mining season, which stretches from September through the end of January. In fact, just last night we heard that a young person lost his life in a mining accident the day we left town.
Tash-Kumyr’s story is harsh and harrowing. Personally speaking, it was mentally and physically exhausting to be there for nine days. Because most people in town heat their homes and outdoor bathhouses by burning local coal, the air quality is utterly abysmal. Breathing and sleeping did not come easy. And while I often saw and appreciated children laughing and playing and old folks joking and making conversation in the streets, I found myself struggling to share those moments of joy. I know that life goes on and you make all the good you can during the hard times, but the town very clearly had a lot going for it at one time. It had an easy, safe, and functional present and a bright future. But here in the first couple days of 2012, I felt like I was in a place that only has a past—nothing left to look forward to but making it to the next New Year’s celebration. That feeling weighed pretty heavily on me, and I hope I’m wrong about it. I will have the good people of Tash-Kumyr in my thoughts for a long time.
Kaylee and I will be wrapping up our time in Kyrgyzstan editing and working from our group’s guest home in Bishkek. We hope our families and friends had a great New Years and we’re looking forward to seeing you very soon.
Jon Augustine
Salutations, I spent another night at Zita and Gita’s house and it turned out really well.
Unfortunately though, I probably confused their nephews more than anything. I’d use the little Russian I knew to communicate with them. In response, they’d try speaking it back to me because they didn’t understand I only spoke English, which caused a few problems.
Once we got past that, I was able to make some interesting images of Zita and Gita. It was a night full of pillow fights, fort building and DreamWorks Animation films. I’m going to try and get back one more time for a few hours to get a couple more images before we depart for the United States on Sunday.
- Chris Dorwart
Over the past two weeks I’ve made myself a part of the few pieces of furniture in Jyldyz and Maksat’s house.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, Jyldyz recently had a baby. Despite some complications with the pregnancy, the family of four now has a fifth member.
But this family’s story is not just about a new baby.
The more time I’ve spent with them the more I’ve been able to extract how the revolution in April 2010 did and still does affect this growing family. While the revolution was flashed across TV screens and front page spreads because of violence and protesters, it’s a day that’s still very much alive for many families.
It’s a day this family will never forget. Then again, it’s hard to forget the bullet that’s still in Maksat’s chest, Jyldyz’s heart problems from her anxiety that day and their children’s uncertain futures.
This is the story of a post-revolution family, living, working and raising children almost two years after the revolution.
It’s hard to express how thankful I am to have the opportunity to step in to this family’s life for such a brief moment in time. My hope is the photos and information will piece together a story that, I’m sure, represents many families in Kyrgyzstan.
- Asha
Brianna and I have been working on this homeless in Bishkek story for over two weeks.
Since the first post, we have taken a pretty sizable gap in time to think about how we wanted to post our next topic.
There are three basic parts to our story: street living, lack of medical care and rehabilitation. This post will be from the medical side of our story.
Although Kyrgyzstan does provide health care coverage, it only provides it to people with “documents.” Most of the homeless have lost theirs and are therefore, ineligible for government assisted care.
Because of this, they are reluctant to go to hospitals and are often turned away. The hospitals, most of which are privately owned, don’t want to spend money on people who can’t pay for medicine and services.
But there are people making a difference.
At Fountain of Life in Bishkek, Azamat and Uulkan roam the streets to find homeless people in need of medical help. We followed them around when they found Natasha and Artur who were living in a concrete hole. Natasha’s feet were frost-bitten and Azamat and Uulkan were able to secure an ambulance to take her to the hospital and pay for her care.
At Fountain of Life, they provide meals three days a week for the homeless and medical care from volunteer doctors. The people come in with a wide range of issues. Some have been beaten by police or other homeless people and have their skulls cracked open. Others have frost-bitten hands and feet.
The work these people do to help those in need is nothing short of heroic. The above images come from The Fountain of Life, the hospital and the concrete hole. It’s tough to see these things happen to people and not want to immediately start helping yourself.
- Patrick
We took the day off from photographing the stories. We went skiing. It took some time to get all the equipment. Finally, we were on the slopes. I got to be a ski instructor again. I used to teach skiing at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon many decades ago. The photo students did great. We had a terrific time. Many thanks goes out to Viktoria, our interpreter and guide, for making this happen, and to Ice, our driver, for putting up with all the vagaries of trying to go here and there to get the ski equipment…cheers, Bruce Thorson
Bishkek was a little quieter than usual today.
Crumpled confetti and burned fireworks littered the ground, reminding us of the craziness of last night.
Some of us were able to get out and work on our photo stories, while the rest of the group did something a little different … a shoot-off.
Patrick, Chris, Brianna, Mary-Ellen and Andrew braved the cold and walked around Bishkek with cameras in hand looking for opportunities to capture Bishkek. After dinner, Bruce, Anna, Alexis and I judged the photos and ranked first, second and third place photos.
The prize? Bragging rights.
The winner? Well, see what you think…
Who captured January 1, 2012 in Bishkek best?
-Asha
С Новым Годом! Happy New Year!
For New Year’s I stayed in the village where Zita and Gita live and rang in the the New Year with their family. They were great and welcomed me in as their own. I ate traditional Kyrgyz dishes and had more than enough manti and tea. Here are some images I made during their celebration and I hope to make it back out to see what their daily life is like for the rest of this week.
- Chris Dorwart
Happy New Year from the team in Kyrgyzstan!
A night of trying to stay warm ended with a bang when the skies of Bishkek lit up with fireworks. The scenes around us were wide ranging. Bottle rockets whizzing around us (one hitting Bruce) provided sparks. So much that Dickinson was able to snap a photo of a tender New Year’s kiss.
Not too far away, a man was slumped over after puking. And not too far from him were a group releasing lanterns into the sky.
From Bishkek, we would like to wish everyone a wonderful close to their 2011 and a bright beginning to your 2012.
Live. Drink. Shoot. Be Merry.
-patrick
