Can you bottle hope?

(Note: This article was written by a friend of ours who wishes to remain anonymous.)

Hope is something in short supply for Uzbeks in South Kyrgyzstan. After orchestrated ethnic violence broke out in June, there was hope that the violence would be curtailed, but it continued unstopped for four days while army helicopters circled overhead. The SOS messages painted onto streets all over the city of Osh were ignored. Then there was hope that when the violence had stopped, somehow things could go back to normal.

"After the fighting, in which my mother, sister and brother were burnt alive as they hid in our cellar, all my Kyrgyz friends called me and put credit on my phone," explained one Uzbek man. "They were so sorry about what had happened and one even promised to sacrifice his largest ram on the 40th day of their deaths, in memory. Well, the fortieth day was yesterday and no Kyrgyz called or came. They all believe the lies on TV that say we did this to ourselves and that we're to blame."

For many Uzbeks, sitting in tents in the remains of their courtyard homes, and grieving relatives killed during the violence, there is no hope for the future. Uzbek men are arrested on pretexts, are held and beaten until relatives pay ransom money. There is lawlessness and a growing fear for the future.

Our response is small, and it doesn't change much, but maybe it provides a little bottled hope. This is the season for canning in preparation for winter. Usually Uzbek women make vast quantities of jams and pickled vegetables while fresh produce is cheap and in abundance. However, those jars that weren't broken by looters, melted in the fires they left behind.

Our emergency canning project invites one woman from each burnt household to come to our canning station, set in a shady, peaceful orchard. We provide all the jars and raw ingredients and each day twenty women from the same neighbourhood preserve and pickle as much as they can, and take home the fruits of their labours. It gets them out of their refugee tents, doing something that feels normal, empowers them by giving them work rather than handouts, and a chance to drink tea and enjoy a social event as cauldrons bubble.

In size, our project is ambitious. We hope to reach each of the 2000 or so homes that were destroyed. We have two canning stations and a transport network for those women afraid to leave their neighbourhoods. We don't have all the money we need to complete this project but we've started in faith that people will respond generously to the need.

"It was so nice to come to this beautiful place, and work hard and not be surrounded by ruins, even if it's just for one day," says one woman. "Thank you for caring for us. Every day we think about winter coming and how we'll cope. Come back in winter and visit us. We'll cook for you and you know what you'll be served!"

As you can see, this canning project has already served a number of Uzbek women affected by the recent ethnic violence here in Kyrgyzstan. However, we will need help to continue to provide these vital services. If you would like to support our efforts and donate to the canning project, please take a moment and visit our "DONATIONS needed!" tab. We would be grateful for any donations, no matter how small, so that we can maintain this canning project until all of the affected Uzbek families have been served.