Iron Woman

Today, we decided to make a return visit to a woman whom we had really connected with last week. In fact, she had insisted that we return and she'd take us to her daughter's home.

When we arrived at her tent, we found a group of people dividing up and distributing food items (rice, flour, tea, oil, macaroni, etc.) donated by a church in the capital. They were grateful; happily weighing, measuring and handing out food stuffs to the steady stream arriving in their burnt out yard. Although we know it is hard for people who were once able to provide for themselves, to accept hand-outs, the Uzbeks do it with a graciousness and generosity that humbles us. There was much laughter and good-natured arguing and teasing. We (Sue and Elaine) sat at the back of the UN-issue tent for several hours, observing and greeting those coming and going. A woman in a neighboring yard, brought plates of osh (rice pilav), tomato salad and nan which they insisted we share. We saw a community at work; brought down, but not defeated.

At one point, two women arrived, who we could see at a glance were dressed and looked differently from the all Uzbeks who had come in previously. After they left, we were told that they were women from a different mahalla whose homes hadn't burned, but who insisted they be given donated items along with the Uzbeks whose homes were gone. And we also learned that the leader of the neighborhood could no longer do the distribution himself, because so many of these same women arrived that it seriously cut into the hand-outs for those who were in need. But he couldn't say 'no' or the women would complain to the government and he'd probably be arrested.

It made our blood boil: yet, these woman explained this to us in voices without anger, not desiring revenge. Being mistreated has become a way of life for them.

'Renee,' our new friend showed us her new notebook in which she now keeps records and holds the few photos she managed to save of her father and siblings. In it, she detailed the account of her family (daughters, grandchildren) fleeing the attack in June, spending many days at the Uzbekistan border (where they saw many dead people) and then returning to her home to find it a living hell. She wrote, "Yet, I realized I still had my most precious possessions; my family, my grandchildren and my friends. And at that moment, I became 'Iron Woman."

And truly, she inspires us. She suffered from a heart attack three years ago and is now in her 60's, but this crisis has mobilized her so that her energy leaves us feeling exhausted. She is an angel of mercy. She is Iron Woman.