Since I arrived in Kyrgyzstan it has been a whirlwind of activity. There is sooo much work here to do that it’s
hard to fathom. The other day was one of
the most…well humbling is the only word I can think of. We started off the
day by going to the Bazaar to buy bags of flour and apples which we took to the
people at the dump. The dump is where
people go to dumpster dive but on a much larger scale, as Lynn and Ruby’s
daughter Kim put it. They scavenge for
food or anything they can make money from.
I even saw a kid bring his cow to the dump to graze off of anything that
could be found.
When we pulled up to the dump people
started coming around the van. One lady
came up to John with huge tears crying that she hadn’t had food in several
days. We then opened up the back doors
to reveal the flour and apples which we handed out to some VERY grateful
people. We also entertained them with a
few songs to lift their spirits and the lady who was crying was now dancing to
our music. Her tears were changed to
tears of joy for a 20 Lb bag of flour and about 3 Lbs of apples.
After passing out the flour and apples our
next stop was to a village where several years ago John and his team brought a
water line to as there was no water source at that time for the village. They were able to run the line from another
area and set up a community tap so the people wouldn’t have to haul water very
far. John was telling me that this
village is made up of different ethnicities, Russian, Kyrgyz and Dungan, and
that the neighbours were always arguing with each other. All of this changed when they got the
villagers together around a table for a meal and then bringing in the water
which was the answer to prayers.
When we pulled into the village we saw a
line up of farmers filling their tanks to take to the fields nearby for
fertilizing. It was a tangible example
of how this water line has dramatically changed the lives of these
villagers. The better water source not
only provides water for their households but also helps to grow better crops,
which means more food and more income for villagers. We could also see where some people had made
new additions to their homes. Speaking
of additions, John also mentioned that in the year after the water line was
installed there were a lot of babies born in the
village that they now refer to as the water babies.
The people in the village are still so
grateful to John that every time he visits they put on a celebration meal. Two little girls also came through the crowd
and presented him with a bouquet of flowers.
Tables were set up in the middle of the road and we had an amazing meal
of plov, which is the national dish of Kyrgyzstan, and enough food to feed at least one army. It was amazing seeing the joy and the
gratefulness of the villagers and how well they are getting along. All of this from getting around a table and
putting their differences behind them and then running a simple water line into
their village.
The dump and this village are but just two
drops in a very large bucket of the needs here in Kyrgyzstan. It all can be very
overwhelming but I like how Lynn and Ruby put it with their slogan for Lamb International – “just
stop for the one in front of you.”
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| Buying the flour and apples |
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| Passing them out at the dump |
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| Farmers lined up for water |
Excellent article!
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