Documenting the Plight of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan: HELP NEEDED

Friday, September 3, 2010

HELP NEEDED

As time passes and Kyrgyzstan is seldom, if ever, mentioned in the news, we quickly lose our attention spans and feel like we've already put enough mental energy into being concerned for the injustice of the circumstances there. The fighting that happened on June 11th is now history and so our tendency is to leave it that way and get on with life. The Uzbeks in Osh feel the same way: they want to get on with life. They are sick and tired of the rubble and dirt and trying to sleep in flimsy tents at night. They want to go back to work and provide for their families. They want to enjoy life: watch a T.V. show, go on a picnic, or take a walk. The difference between us and them is that they can't move on.

They don't have permission to rebuild their homes so they remain in tents. Their businesses have been destroyed an they can't sell their goods at the bazaars anymore so they have no way to provide for their families. Their TVs are stolen and even if they had them, there is no more Uzbek programing. They dare not take a walk just anywhere because of the risk of being arrested or beaten or slurred.

The fact is that for the Uzbeks the persecution and discrimination that started on June 11th is not history, it is still happening. Click HERE to learn more about suffering farmers in South Kyrgyzstan.

And if you'd like to do more, please click HERE to sign petitions that will give voice to your concerns.

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Glossary

Choy – green tea, served in ‘tea bowls’ called piyola (see separate entry)

Fergana Valley – Osh, the city we are reporting from, is located at the end of this valley, a fertile region settled by Uzbeks centuries ago. Stalin divided the valley into three uneven areas, thus delegating some of the Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, some to Tajikistan and some to Kyrgyzstan. This blog concerns the Uzbeks living inside the Kyrgyz border.

Hovli - walled courtyard. Usually the various rooms of the house, along with outhouses, baths, and so forth, are wrapped around the inside walls. Generally, extended family live together; particularly parents, their sons, wives and children.

Kelin - daughter-in-law.

Kozon - huge cooking pot used in canning.

Mahalla – a locally-governed neighborhood region. Instead of asking, ‘What street do you live on,’ we might ask, ‘What mahalla do you live in?’

Mehmon – a guest. Uzbeks have a saying, ‘a guest is more honored than a father.’ (and fathers/elders are very honored!)

Mehmondo’stlik – hospitality. Daily, we are humbled by the generous hospitality of people who have lost everything.

Nan – round flats of bread, eaten at every meal, or every time people sit together.

Piyola – small handle-less tea cups.

Ramazan – Islamic month of fasting, this year starting around August 10th. During this month, the first meal of the day is partaken of before the first light of the sun (about 5 am) and the fast will be broken after the sun goes down, when ‘a white thread and a black thread can not be distinguished from one another,’ probably around 8:30 pm. During the course of the day no food, water, or cigarettes can be used. This will be a significant difficulty this year, for those who wait in burned-out hovlis, their trees burned, and with nothing to do but wait and wait for the hours to pass.

Sart - a derogatory term used for Uzbeks. During the four days of violence in June 2010, the walls of houses were labeled with ‘sart’ or ‘Kyrgyz.’ The ones labeled ‘Kyrgyz’ were spared.

Supa - a traditional raised platform on which people, sit, eat, and sleep

Tushak – cotton-filled rectangular mats, used for both sitting on and sleeping on.

Uzbek – an ethic group comprised of people mainly from Uzbekistan, but many are also found in surrounding regions, such as here in Osh, carved up by the Soviet knife of ‘divide and conquer’ to prevent regions from becoming too powerful during the Soviet era.

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Friday, September 3, 2010

HELP NEEDED

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