Western opinions
Dear all
I was very honored when I was asked as an author for neweurasia. Maybe it seems strange to write for newearasia whilst not living there at all (I am from Europe). But this part of the world and especially Kyrgyzstan is very attractive to me.
I have been in Bishkek and Osh for two times already and I am on the eve of leaving again for the beautiful city of Osh. The day after tomorrow in the early morning I will be meeting Manas airport again on my way to Osh. This time for a period of three weeks to see the magnificent horizons (or rather the lack of horizons) again. I have been in many countries all over the world already because of the job I am doing but KG is special for me.
Maybe I am looking at KG too much like an outstander and see things completely wrong. If that is the case I would encourage people to react on my writing and try to convince me of the opposite. My point of view is, that it is never too late to learn from other people. I always try to understand the way of living and the people in all the countries I was and most of the time people are getting crazy of all these questions from this foreign man. I can also imagine that people reading this would say that I have to mind my own business. True, but taking care of other people means that you are not only mind your own business, but that you also want them to have a better life in the end. I sincerely think that minding other people in this way cannot be a bad thing.
What strucks me in KG is that a lot of people living in poverty as we as ‘westerns’ see it, but still seems to be very cheerful. On the other hand I also spoke to people who are cheerful on the outside but very grimm on the inside. There is still a lot to be done in KG by the government to take care of all there inhabitants, to create jobs and take care of the older people. It will not be an easy job I think especially if there is not much to export and get the money needed. People who seems to have a reasonable job and /or education are looking abroad to find better conditions to feed their families staying at home in KG. Not seeing your family in sometimes more then half a year is not human like anymore.
It seems to me that to study is a difficult task in KG also. First of all because the level of education is pretty low. There are only a few universities having exchange programs with other universities in Europe or USA. You must be very lucky, or having lots of money to have such an opportunity. I heard of teachers only earning 45$ a month which can be very demotivating for teaching. A teacher should be enthusiastic and full of passion to stimulate the pupils. Ok, true, we have also teachers who are not having a passion for the real teaching, but here only a few have the drive and probably idealism to do it.
Second, but related to the lack of jobs and the payment is the corruption. I have heard some stories about getting a diploma if you have enough money to pay for it. It is a way of earning the money as a teacher of course. The only thing is that poor people cannot pay and therefore almost without a good chance of succeeding in life. The difference between poor and rich only becomes greater. Mind you I am not an economist or a high grade studied person. I am a technician who is interested in people and nations.
When I come back after three weeks from now, I might have some new insights from KG but I do not believe changes will come in some weeks or even some months. Unfortunately it can even take generations to overcome some collective thoughts.
Johan.
on October 4th, 2007 at 6:52 am
I think that we should discuss the definition of poverty. Many people in Kyrgyzstan, as well as in other former Soviet countries and in the rest of the world, do not earn enough money. At the same time, a lot of poor people have their own housing, they do not have mortgage and other debts. Instead, the savings of many people were depreciated or even zeroed during the post-Soviet times. And even now, you can see quite a few elder men in banks, dealing with their savings. But in general the author is right, the quality of life in Kyrgyzstan is not very high.
on October 15th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Thank you for your comment Akbalta, I really appreciate it.
I have just returned from my trip to KG and found again some interesting matters I would like to have a second opinion on.
I believe it has something to do with the mentality of the Kyrgys people but maybe I am wrong.
First of all the prices of apartments. It struck me that simple apartments already costs more then $200 per month while the
average wages are around $45. How is it possible? Is it because I was living with Russian people who are discriminated and
therefore has to pay more then average, or is it something else? Even a ‘contract’ does not say anything because after only
one month, the owner start already asking for more money.
Furthermore I found it very interesting to see that a lot of people in all kind of trades only looking at the short term profit. I have 4 examples to tell and maybe it is a coincidence that it happens to me or one of my friends.
Example 1: A dentist is asked to fix some holes in two teeth. He did both teeth indeed but (deliberately?) forget about one
hole in one tooth. Maybe to make sure that this person will come back to him?? He charged of course the whole sum as agreed.
Only two days later this person got a toothache again and needed to go to the dentist again.
Example 2: A shoemaker fixed a heal of a shoe for me. It was not visible at first sight but after only one day the repaired shoe was falling apart again on the same spot. Of course this shoemaker was not to blaim (according to him).
Example 3: Safety in some apartments. When I was in this apartment the electrical wiring was pretty bad. Because it was cold
in the evening I switched on an electrical heater like many people do as I have been told. After only half an hour the wall socket
was burned completely and failed. After fixing it, it burned again after some time. The owner tells me that he will not change the wiring because he does not have the money. How about $200 per month?? It is very likely that some day there will be a power shortage in this apartment and then this apartment (and many more in this building) will be in flames because also the fuse box is not working and the wiring will act like a match in the wall. Insurance? I do not believe so.
Example 4: Documents are asked for in an office. I have checked the right spelling of my name and paid the bill. After some weeks I returned and the documents were ready, only the name was spelled wrong. It was definitely a mistake of this office but the documents have to be made again and I have to pay again because this office does not feel responsible.
In all four cases I cannot imagine that these people do not know what the consequences will be for their acts and thus their trades.
In example 1 and 2 I would never return to these people, in 3 and 4 it will be more difficult because of lack of other means to go to.
When asking people about this matters they tell me that each and everyone is acting like that.
Is this true, or is it merely Russians and other foreign people who are being ripped off like that??
If have only seen some companies with their employees who try to do there utmost for a customer but in general, if I must believe my host, is it deceive and is the customer definitely NO king like in other countries. I know for sure that a company who is honost and try to really do their best, I would go there again.
About the diffence in poverty in KG I have seen again an example. During my stay I went to a bank for exchange dollars into local currency. I saw people getting money from the bank and really, I never have seen this amount in cash all my life.
Maybe we are not used to it because we only use ‘plastic’ money these days. Outside beggars sitting who (I believe) do not
even have money for buying bread.
Also happened to me is that a member of the militia on the Osh bazar was pretty agressive when stopping me when I passed him.
He could clearly see that I was a tourist (at least I look very different then all other people their as a tall European).
I tried to be friendly and answered his questions the best I could but this was not enough for him. My guide missed me and found me behind the stalls speaking with two of this men. I believe that thanks to my guide the questioning ended and was probably saving me also from paying a large sum of money.
Despite of all things happened to me during my time in KG I still like the country and also a lot of people are nice and understanding too.
I would like to know if this is happens all the time and if this is the case, how people in KG feel about it.
Would it be possible to change this mentality or is it too long already like this and will it be too difficult to change.
I made a comparisation between KG and my country and it looks that KG is about 50-55 years back in time. If it will not get any help from other countries I believe this difference remains despite of the communcation means at hand.
As told before, I do not live in KG but find it very intriging how people from KG feel about this. Is it really commom and is everybody already so used to this phenomenon that nobody cares anymore? On this site I read a lot of interesting comments and some people want to change it. Are these the calling few in the middle of a desert?
Johan.