Wanderlustress

Latest from Osh

Local sources in Osh said today that there are police on the city streets now and that marashukas, taxis have resumed operation, and stores and bazaars are open.  Apparently, police have returned to work but under the leadership and authority of opposition members.

Btw...

Spring is in full bloom in the valley. Every kind of blossom imaginable is showering the streets and orchards with their arrival into this new season.  Most schools are out this week, the annual Navrus spring break.  Everyone is out sweeping sidewalks and streets, cleaning windows, scrubbing away the winter mud from curbs, touching up the paint on their houses, planting new trees, and painting new white skirting on all the trees.  All good news...however, there is more dust after winter, and more men out on the streets, sometimes drunk, sometimes fighting, and the young men are starting with their cat-calls again.  Sigh...spring has sprung.

Additional Observations...

This is as of 23rd March (I could not get on-line to post yesterday afternoon.):

An

Osh

resident said that the past 36 hours have been “eerily quiet”.  There was no one on the streets, not even police presence.  All shops were closed.  People have been stock piling food and other necessities.  Either people know something is coming up, or no one knows anything and people are preparing for the worst.

Taxi drivers say that people with visas and/or the right paperwork are able to cross the border both ways, and that people have been going back and forth for the past few days.  A quick survey at the bazaar revealed that people are just now able to bring goods back and forth after a week of difficulties.  They specifically noted that it is only possible for women to cross the border, and not men.  No sign of stock piling here yet, but prices are sure to go up should trade between the Korasu Bazaar in

Osh

and Andijon continue to be limited.

There appears to be a feeble attempt to stir up Kyrgyz diaspora support.  Emails have been circulating asking Kyrgyz abroad to organize and protest in their local areas around the world.

Update

A staff member of an international organization in Kyrgyzstan was asked to leave the country and is now in Andijon.  Removed from his headquarters in Bishkek, and the only foreign national stationed in Osh, this is seen as only precautionary.  Other international organizations in Osh have not made the same decision for their foreign staff members.

Foreigners with proper visas and documentation have been able to cross the main Osh-Dostlik border.  However, Kyrgyz who have tried to cross at Osh or rural border posts have had very limited success.

Russian news this morning reported that telephone service in the Osh region have been shut off, but a member of an international organization in Andijon was able to call their office in Osh this morning on the LAN line. 

Peace Corps Uzbekistan is working with the American Embassy to arrange Uzbek visas for PCVs in Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Talas regions.  IF they decide to evacuate the PCVs, the embassy will be at the border to help get them across and head straight to Tashkent.  They have no plans to use the Ferghana Valley region as the consolidation point for the Kyrgyz PCVs.

The Korasu Bazaar in Osh is a major trading post for goods sold in Andijon bazaars.  If cross border trade is restricted, prices are bound to rise and the already limited income of people here will be squeezed even more.  I plan to check with taxi drivers and bazaar merchants about how this has affected them so far. 

Momentum

Looks like the Rose Revolution has literally reached our borders.  The recent opposition movement in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, are occuring only about 45-50km from where I live in Andijon, Uzbekistan.  The opposition has maintained a stronghold for over two weeks now, and up until this weekend, it has been non-violent.  Recent escalations may be due to the "Navrus" (Spring) celebrations this past weekend, or a natural momentum of their efforts.

Apparently, travel within Kyrgyzstan, especially between the North and mountainous South is highly restricted.  And all borders between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are closed.  Villagers in our project could not cross the border this past weekend to share in the Navrus celebrations, despite their cross-border family relations.  In Uzbekistan, there is noticeable increased military presence along the road up to Jalal-Abad.

My "Pro-Democracy" reaction is instinctive for an American, but to Uzbeks, democratic success in Kyrgyzstan will mean the shut down of what little civil liberties, and NGO work are left in Uzbekistan.

Donation Drive

"YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY ACTION SEMINAR"

I am trying to raise $690.00 for a youth leadership project that I designed with my NGO.  The project’s primary aim is to give idle youth in our community an opportunity to learn leadership skills and encourage them to lead and participate in community work.  This is important and necessary to preventing increased youth delinquency in the city.  By organizing youth in a way that is constructive, our activities will abate and reduce the negative influences of increased unemployment and street violence that has been on the rise since I started my service here one year ago.  Our ultimate goal is to nurture future leaders of Uzbekistan and I invite you to take part in achieving that with us.

You can make your tax-deductible donation to the “Leadership and Community Action Seminar” through the Peace Corps Partnership Program web-site:  PCPP Donations

Any amount that you can contribute is greatly appreciated – a little bit from everyone will go a long way.

Thank you in advace for your support!

Peace

Why bother...

I've been confounded and confused as to why I continue to owe more money to the mobile phone company (Unitel) here than I actually use up by talking, SMS'ing, etc.  I can't explain it no matter how diligently I keep a daily log of talking time...calls I make, and receive.  Its never added up.  Today a friend of mine tried to help by asking a Unitel employee at his site.  He explained to my friend how charges are made, etc. but at the end, he plainly said, "And sometimes, they cheat you.  It happens to me, too, and I work for the company!"