Leaving Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Sunday, June 13, 2010
12:33 am local time

Well, we are not sure if we need to, but we are leaving Kyrgyzstan early. We feel terrible about what is happening here and wish we could help in some way but there is no way we are helping by being here.

This morning started like yesterday. We got up and took a long walk throught the green parks that are everywhere in town. We passed the Lady Freedom who is in front of the "White House" where the revolution started on April 7. And we passed Lenin, who was moved from this place to a tucked away corner next to the National Historical Museum after the Soviets left. Then we came home, ate breakfast, I went to a spa, and then we were picke up by our local counterpart who had offered to take us to the Osj market where one can buy cheap artisinal crafts. But on the way there a police car blocked the way saying that "they are throwing things in the market." So we went to a department store instead and then had lunch at a café. Everything seemed normal. Children playing, tourists milling, people spending money. We were advised by local friends not to go out at night so we bought a bunch of food and a bottle of Moldavian wine and bunkered down in our hotel room, chatting and occasionally checking a local news website in Russian that is updated every 15 minutes. Unfortuately, what we read wasn't good. The fighting has started in Jalalabad, a town neighboring Osj. Even though this is still the Southern part of the country, it just all started feeling very unstable.

We are sorry to leave our friends in this struggling democracy and wish them good luck!!!

Signing out from Bishkek...

There is NOT a civil war going on here

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

June 12, 2010

12:22 am

Two months ago there was a revolution in Kyrgyzstan. The corrupt president fled the country and is likely hiding out in Belarus. The new interim president, Roza Otunbaeva, has created an interim government but there is no parliament yet. A referendum on the new constitution, which would reduce the power of the president, effectively making the country a parliamentary democracy, is scheduled for June 27. However, last night there were clashes between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek ethnic groups in the Southern town of Osj. Most people we talked to today were convinced that this was sponsored by the ex-president's thugs who are paying young, unemployed men to attack each other. Although this can hardly be called ethnic uprising, it has unfortunately caused 42 persons to die so far.

We were hoping that the Kyrgyz would all come to the same conclusion that this is an attempt at destabilization and ignore the provocations. However, tonight, after attending an amazing concert at the National Philharmonic Hall in memory of those who died in the April 7 revolution (classical concert sponsored by the U.S. and Swiss governments), as we were eating Chinese food
we heard gunshots. When we got home we discovered that there had been a couple of thousand young men milling around trying to get supportors to go down to Osj to defend their compatriots. The gunshots were blanks fired by the police to calm and disburse them. We think it worked because things are quiet now.

The crisis will test the interim president who was planning on holding the counry's first democratic parliamentary elections in September. We hope she will get the situation under control as an unstable situation may give Uzbekistan the excuse to move into the Ferghana Valley, which is where Osj is located, and which borders their country. If not, the Russians have offered to help...

We were supposed to be flying home on Wednesday but may re-evaluate the situation over the weekend.

Your correspondent in Bishkek...

Tajikistan - A struggling post-Soviet State

Tajikistan is a former Soviet State. This lives on in the form of language (Russian being one of the official languages), infrastructure (ah, that lovely Soviet architecture), and systems. But it clearly has its own Tajik identity, culture and poverty (unfortunately). Someone said today that when the Soviets came to Tajikistan the country went directly from being an agrarian society to a modern one, skipping the social and cultural changes that accompanied the industrialization phase in many other countries. So when the Soviets left, a lot of the reforms that had been made (in, for example, women's rights and education) were not prioritized, and the country has since begun to glide back into traditional values. Unfortunately, this has meant that girls are dropping out of school sooner than boys, a shift that goes against development achievements in neighboring countries and that will eventually have an effect on the health of their children and their own future economic empowerment.

Apparently, there is some nostalgia for the old Soviet system and its stability/predictability. Apparently, during the Soviet times people would go to the bakers and buy a half a loaf of bread in the morning because they knew there would be another half to buy freshly baked in the evening. Now they buy whole loaves at a time in the fear that they next time they go there won't be bread.

In essence, as one person told me today, the sovietization of Tajikistan really was a "europization" of the country, both in terms of social issues (like women's issues) but also infrastructure. Nowhere is this more clear apparently than on the border with Afghanistan where one sees power lines and roads up to the border and then nothing on the other side...

Back to the scene of the crime!

Starbucks at Istanbul airport

My friend and colleague, Susanna, and I are on our way back to Dushanbe. Back to the scene of the crime! In case you missed our adventures in Central Asia in 2008 (and I mean adventures. We were deported, she ended up in the hospital, and we almost got into a brawl with the hotel receptionist in Almaty over a crooked housekeeper's allegations), you can go back to 2008 on this blog and read it!

This time we are chronicalling (how DO you spell that word???) the Swedish Development Agency's work here for the last 14 years since they are leaving the region. Only going to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan this time. I will be sorry to miss the Grand Bazaar in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

I am content because I pulled a muscle in my back (doing sit-ups. How in the world???) and was in pain on the plane here. But we found one of those energy masseuses at the airport here and he fixed me up for the moment. Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

Are the Basotho doomed to die out?

One cannot be in Lesotho for more than a couple of days without the topic of HIV/AIDS coming up. The country has the dubious honor of having the 3rd highest HIV prevalence rate in the world (after Swaziland and Botswana). With one-quarter of the population infected with HIV, and 60 new infections EVERY DAY, the consequences are obviously enormous, and not just on the economy. I was told by an official in charge of HIV /AIDS here that at one point they were so overwhelmed they assumed that the whole population would eventually die of AIDS. There are almost 100,000 AIDS orphans in Lesotho (19% of all children in the country), so maybe they weren't far off.

Only 15 years ago the prevalence was "only" 5%. The reason for the high prevalence and its rapid spread are similar to other countries in the region: multiple sexual partners at the same time, low condom use, older men preying on younger women, and poverty. Low male circumcision rates are probably also a contributor.

The strange thing is that one doesn't hear the word HIV in society here. There are "testing centers" and people die young but noone talks about how. There are not many older people working in the Ministry of Health. I guess they are all dead. And yet people keep going on with their lives. They seem happy. They work and carry on. They don't talk about it much. It's spooky but a testament to human nature.

Lesotho- the Mountain Kingdom

I'm in the Kingdom of Lesotho. A tiny mountainous country completely encircled by South Africa (like Swaziland). The self-proclaimed "Switzerland of Africa." Population 1.8 million. Being in the Southern hemisphere it is winter here now and cold. The weirdest thing is seeing the maple (!) leaves turning color. I have never seen maple trees or leaves turning color in Africa, having spent 20 years living and traveling to countries with a much warmer climate. Apparently it gets down to minus 10 celsius in August. That doesn't feel like Africa! The explanation of course is that the country varies between 2,000 and 3,000 meters elevation. No wonder I feel like Bugs Bunny on ether when I try to jog here!

Lesotho gained independance from the British (it was a protectorate) in 1966. Before that it was called Basutoland. People here are very friendly and open, except to the Chinese, who have started running a lot of the garment factories that are popping up all over. Apparently, the Basotho (the word for people who live in Lesotho. And they speak Sesotho) resent the Chinese for buying up factories although they pay taxes like everyone else and provide jobs to the unemployed.

Addendum: I was later told that resentment stems from reportedly poor standards and wages for workers from the Chinese owners.

Leaving Anafora

I wrote these posts while in Anafora (December 26-January 2) but since I did not have/want internet access there, I am posting them all at once. To read in the right order, start at the bottom of this thread: "Journey to Anafora."

Today is my last day in Anafora and Egypt. I spent breakfast as I have several mornings now, in conversation with Bishop Thomas, asking him about all sorts of things. He has told me about what happens to the identities of monks when they enter monastaries by relating the story of when he was ordained. When Coptic priests are ordained they symbolically "die." The altar and the full funeral service is performed for them with a sheet over their body and face. The Bishop's description of the feeling of dying, letting go of everything and then being re-born with a new name was very moving. Because he felt it was so personal, he chose to be ordained in a remote church, and not in his home town where it usually occurs, in front of one's family. I can't imagine how that would feel to see one's son or husband die (Coptic priests can marry but they have to before they are ordained; Afterwards it is too late)!

After a moving goodbye with the staff and the Bishop (and his blessing), I went to Cairo with Katja and Anna-Clara and was given a feeling for the noise, pollution, traffic, and "controlled chaos" of one of the world's largest cities (17 million). We went to a beautiful store with handmade cotton and linen clothes in amazing colors. Later, after lunch, I was driven to the airport and had an uneventful (although delayed) trip home. I arrived home at 3 am to a white, chilly Stockholm.

Waking up, I can hardly believe I was in the desert 24 hours before, eating rice pudding and chatting with the Bishop. However, the memories will remain fresh for a long time, and the friendships I made will last forever I am sure.

Anafora is an amazing place for anyone who is interested in experiencing a community of faith, love and peace. I highly recommend it!

Pax