Documenting the Plight of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan: Visual impressions of the canning project

Friday, August 13, 2010

Visual impressions of the canning project

The following movie is an attempt to capture impressions of the canning project in action. We hope you enjoy it!

If you would like to help support the canning project, please visit our page "DONATIONS needed!" for information on how to contribute. Thank you!

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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, August 13, 2010

Visual impressions of the canning project

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