Mobilizer

Through our project to help families who have been burned out, we met a young woman we'll call 'Dilya.'

Dilya wanted to talk with us about the trauma she and her family faced on June 10 and following. She recalled how one day earlier, they noticed bus loads of Kyrgyz leaving town on the road north. They puzzled at why so many were leaving but decided it must be groups going to Issyk Kul ('Hot Lake'), a popular resort area in northern Kyrgyzstan (others have confirmed that prior to the attacks, their Kyrgyz were warned to leave, in one instant neighbors saw them taken away on tanks).

Dilya went on to explain that her neighborhood was one of the first to be hit by the fighting as it lies at the convergence of three highways. Hundreds of masked, armed men attacked her Uzbek mahalla, though as she stated, none of the Uzbeks had any weapons to defend themselves with, other than sticks and stones. However, there was enough warning that women, children and the elderly could escape. Those that could, spent 10 days in Uzbekistan before being 'invited' to return to their looted and burned homes. This story is not unusual – we've heard it or variations dozens of times.

But what we like about Dilya, a young woman in her early 20s and a university graduate, is the way she is serving her community in the aftermath of the violence. Because the homes in her neighborhood are now only shells, and the children have no place to play, the UN set up a 'children's camp' in a big tent near her home. Dilya and three other women take the children in two shifts a day to give them a place to play (there are toys, art materials provided), to lavish love on them, to give them a special snack, and to encourage them to tell their stories to sympathetic teachers.

What else is Dilya doing? She has an elderly neighbor who is responsible for her grandchildren but has lost the lower parts of both her legs. So, Dilya gave up her day off to come to our canning project a second time, and work so that her neighbor might receive the clothing and canned goods we supplied.

Dilya carries a heavy burden of sorrow for her neighborhood, but she is not immobilized by grief. Instead, she is taking action and giving her energy and time to helping her community.