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Alpine Update #6 - July 2003

Another busy month at the Alpine Fund including distribution of humanitarian aid, English classes, preparing for a summer camp in August and of course a trip to the mountains.

In this July 2003 issue:

10 TONS OF HUMANITARIAN AID FROM SPAIN - It started as a simple request, asking only if there were some clothes that might be donated, by the end of the weekend the Alpine Fund’s two room office was flooded with 10 tons of humanitarian aid. What to do with all that aid and how to distribute it fairly has been our task.

MARGA LEDO DESCRIBES TEACHING AT THE DORDOI MARKET - As the summer was getting near, I, naive me, thought things would slow down in the Alpine Fund office (how wrong I was about this you can not imagine), so before the English lessons at the VA children’s home came to an end I decided to volunteer also a few days per week with the CPC (Center for Protection of Children) teaching English at the home they got near Dordoi Bazaar.

OUR NEW ALPINE YOUTH GUIDES - Yuri Kravchenko and Maia

JULY 4 MUSIC FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER - On July 4th Alpine Fund held a first of its kind music festival fundraiser with the new Golden Bull Restaurant and Johnny’s Pub in the center of Bishkek.  The event was a no-cover outdoor event inviting the community with the purpose of raising funds and promoting local awareness of the Alpine Fund.

2003 SUMMER CAMP - For the first time in our history, summer camps became part of our fundraising campaign.  Summer camps were always part of our program. We enjoyed taking children to the mountains or to the lake and give them skills and knowledge they need to be successful in real life. Due to financial difficulties this year, usual Alpine Summer camps did not happen, which is such a shame because children our considered them to be a real life school. And this year it turned out that some international organizations share this opinion.

SUMMER IN VOENNO ANTONOVKA CHILDREN’S HOME - What comes on your mind, when you hear a word “summer”? Summer camps, family trips, visits to grandparents, etc.?  Well, for some of the residents of Voennaya Antonovka’s Children’s Home, summer is the only time they can leave that place where they spend all of their time. So they look forward to it just as all other ordinary children.

TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE KIDS FROM DORDOI - A few days ago we were working hard at the office when we started talking about the mountains and how we had to organize some outdoor activities very soon, not only for the good of the kids but for ours also as we were getting a bit tired of the never ending office work. The last few weeks were kind of mad as we were preparing a couple of “big” summer camps for August, dealing with the distribution of the Spanish humanitarian aid, writing project proposals, teaching, etc… somehow we felt we were missing the point, after all Alpine Fund is supposed to use nature and mountains to help kids to learn more about themselves, their friends and their capabilities… so how on earth we ended up working non stop in this office for so many weeks.  When Garth suggested that we could take some of the kids that attend my English lesson at Dordoi  I just thought, what a fantastic idea, why didn’t I think about it before!

NEWS FROM KYRGYZSTAN

DEATH OF A CLIMBER - On July 20, 2003 a 41-year-old photojournalist from Turkey, Yashar Uguroglu Ojak, was killed by lightning and a subsequent fall while climbing peak Tikitor in Ala Archa National Park. In this case he died instantly, but since then more attention has been given to the state of the mountain rescue teams in Kyrgyzstan.

VISIT OF NORWEIGIAN ASSOCIATION OF MOUNTAIN HIKERS’ JAN THOMPSON - Jan Thompon, the Secretary General of the Association of Mountain hikers in Norway, visited Kyrgyzstan to research ways that the Norwegian government could help develop cultural trekking using the lessons from the Norwegian concept of cabin-to-cabin hikes. Garth Willis, president of the Alpine Fund, assisted his research. Garth has been asked to research the potential for such assistance in the area of Southern Issyk Kul.

RAID GAULOISES ENDURANCE RACE IN KYRGYZSTAN - Kyrgyzstan hosts the world’s oldest and largest eco-race.

PHOTO EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS THE FACES OF ORPHANS FROM KYRGYZSTAN - Damian Wampler spent two months traveling to orphanages in Kyrgyzstan, his black and white portraits capture all the moods of the children, and shows how they are first kids, not orphans.

NEWS FROM THE ALPINE LEARNING CENTER - Massive landslides hit area, but missed the ALC (barely), more soon!

Full Stories:

 10 TONS OF HUMANITARIAN AID FROM SPAIN

It began with a simple request, asking only if there were some clothes that might be donated, by the end of the weekend the Alpine Fund’s two room office was flooded with 10 tons of humanitarian aid. What to do with all that aid and how to distribute it fairly has been our task.

It all started when Marga Ledo, an Alpine Fund volunteer from Spain asked the Spanish soldiers that were ending their tour of duty at the Ganci Airforce base if they had extra clothes or boots the Alpine Fund could distribute this to a local orphanage. What Marga did not know was that in Spain the “Asociacion Cultural y Recreativa Zona Sur" based in Zaragoza and comprised mostly of families of Airforce members had gathered 10 tons of aid and wanted to ship it to Kyrgyzstan in memory of the 65 Spanish soldiers that were killed in May when their plane crashed in Turkey on their way back to Spain. Nine of those soldiers were based at the Ganci in Kyrgyzstan, among them Jose Antonio, the coordinator of humanitarian aid for Spain.

(A note might be of help here, the Ganci Airforce base was established in winter of 2000 fight the war in Afghanistan. At the base, located near Bishkek, are over 2000 soldiers, and while the bulk of the soldiers are from the USA it is a coalition base with soldiers rotating in and out from several countries.)

When the news reached the "Asociacion Zona Sur" that there was a Spanish women that worked for an aid distribution organization it was decided to ship the aid to the Alpine Fund. Meanwhile back at the Alpine Fund we thought that a taxi could pick up all the clothes that the soldiers had donated, instead we were asked if there was a forklift at our office. We quickly gathered as many people as possible and awaited the arrival of to large trucks full of boxes of clothes, toys, food, medicine, mattresses, office supplies and, well, seemingly everything one could imagine. Working until late at night the Alpine Fund office was jammed full of boxes that would occasionally fall in avalanches of clothes and toys. 

Not sure what had hit us we immediately wanted to distribute the 92 boxes of perishable glucose intravenous kits that were donated for the children’s cancer hospital. Jose, the coordinator that died in the plane crash had visited the hospital with a doctor to ask what they most needed, glucose was the answer. When we went to the hospital for them the news was bittersweet, they were happy about the medicine that was about a 4 months supply, but were sad to learn that a friend had died. When we delivered the medicine Marga read a statement from the Association saying that it was hoped that even in the death of the soldiers it is hoped that lives might be saved through this donation.

Our distribution efforts continue to this day, although we are now able to move about the office a little more freely. We have delivered toys and clothes and toys to several children’s homes, a home for elderly people without support, a home for retarded children, and this week we will travel to Osh to bring help to an orphanage for deaf children. Delivering the aid has been a learning experience for the Alpine Fund, there are so many great organizations that need help and with many of the organizations we have contacted there is hope for further work together.       

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MARGA LEDO DESCRIBES TEACHING AT THE DORDOI MARKET 

As the summer was getting near, I, naive me, thought things would slow down in the Alpine Fund office (how wrong I was about this you can not imagine), so before the English lessons at the VA children’s home came to an end I decided to volunteer also a few days per week with the CPC (Center for Protection of Children) teaching English at the home they got near Dordoi Bazaar.

Dordoi is the biggest clothes market in Bishkek and for that matter in the country. A labyrinth made of clothing stalls, anything you may ever need can be found there, clothes and complements for any season and taste, from the coolest to the bizarre, for everyone from babies to the old babushkas. Anyone with a little entrepreneur interest can start a business here. Apart from the stalls there are also the containers “zone”, there containers selling goods from different places like Turkey, Iran, India, etc. Clothes are the main business here but we can find also shoes, complements, veggies, household utensils, food, etc. Dordoi Bazaar is like a town in its own, with different defined areas, the Asian part where you can get things from China, Korea, etc; the Russian part, the European, more expensive and apparently better quality.

No doubt plenty where to choose from and each area comes with certain reputation about the standards of quality and value for money. Thousands of people work there every day of the year; unfortunately many of them are kids of all ages that for different circumstances have to work instead of going to school. In some cases they must help their parents with the family business, or get some money to help out. In other cases they are  alone, many ran away from home due to family problems and are now trying to make a living with whatever work they can find. Small and big they all seem to have the ability to find their way around the bazaar probing that somehow there is an order in this apparent chaos. 

In the last few years, new housing began to grow fast in the proximity of this market becoming the home of many of the workers. Basic and simple constructions in a flat and dry land, all next to each other, constructed quickly and cheaply as if its inhabitants were thinking of this just as a provisional home, hoping to make enough money soon and then built a proper nice house somewhere else.  These dreams became a reality for only a few and most of them ended up staying here and having families. In this micro region there are not schools, medical centers and in many cases homes do not have running water or it is very limited. The majority of the families living here are poor and can not afford the price of the mazurka (local minibus) to send their kids to the nearest school so many of these children don’t have the chance of getting a formal education.

The CPC, an organization supported by the Dutch and Danish Government opened a center here a while ago. It is a small house but full of energy and very busy at certain times of the day, especially at noon when the food program is running and this place is visited by 70 children. Every day apart from food, the CPC sends also a social worker and medical staff that follow up any problems these kids may face, check their health regularly and make sure they receive appropriated vaccines and medicines that may need. Zakia, the social worker also meets with the families and relatives, trying to prevent problems, finding solutions and helping out with whatever she can. The CPC also offers sometimes courses taught by volunteers like myself, which these kids can attend. Unfortunately many of them don’t have free time and after having their meal have to rush back to work. It is always impossible to know how many will be attending the 45 minutes English lessons; any number from 8 to 26 may turn up.

Most of them do not have any knowledge of English but they are smart and learn quickly, sometimes they forget quickly also but after a quick review they are back on track again. Some kids have real difficulties concentrating or writing and to help them I started drawing something in the blackboard and writing its name next to it. Soon these drawings became very popular, kids seem to remember better this way and drawings are now an important part of each lesson, even when we have books with pictures they always ask me to draw it, this never ceases to amazed me as I never thought that drawing was one of my talents.

The past two months flew by. It feels like it was yesterday when I went there for the first time. I started helping out with the food program as a way of introducing myself to the kids and see who could be interested in learning English, then I liked it and kept on doing it together with the lessons. By now I know who will play with their cabbage salad for ages looking for the perfect moment when no one is looking, to put their plate and salad in the dirty dishes container without having to listen once again to the  “ You need to eat your salad it is good for your health” or which kids will share their bread or exchange pieces of their food, the ones that sit always together and the little boys and girls that finish half their portions and sit there feeling sorry for themselves with a look in their faces that seems to say “Well I am small and my plate was so full, honestly I can not fit any more veggies in my little tummy but I have already eaten all the meat”. After a while even the kids that don’t come to the lesson started asking me how to say in English very basic stuff like Hello, Thanks, How are you? And are now using it when we meet. The one that surprises me most is Ulaan, a truly smart and gifted kid that comes to the lessons occasionally (he has to work) but always remembers everything and uses it in conversations later on.

This was a new challenge for me and I also learned a lot, most of these kids are Kyrgyz speakers and do not know Russian. My Russian is bad but my Kyrgyz is not there at all, these are the two official languages in Kyrgyzstan. Thankfully a couple of kids in the class speak also Russian and translate things over when necessary. Participating in the food program, teaching them English and getting to know all the people there is a great experience... They are amazing kids, like Jamila, a very intelligent 12 yo girl, has the neatest handwriting I have ever seen. Nasira a very smart and beautiful 15 yo girl that could go very far if she had opportunities but instead she has to work at a fruit stall in the bazaar, Dastan, a 10 yo boy always full of energy and ready to experiment. Little cheeky Talai, 8, with a cartoon’s like voice, he doesn’t like writing very much but his pronunciation is perfect and he enjoys learning and repeating new words constantly. Riscul and Dilbar who seem to have some problems and can not concentrate for long but always try hard to be as good as the rest. Aijan and Atircul, 15 yo girls, always ready for the camera, constantly asking about English songs and unfortunately until now I only managed to recognize.  I could go on to describe most of the kids there but I guess this is more than enough for now, all of them are amazing, have endless curiosity, always asking loads of questions, sharing things and always ready for a laugh.

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OUR NEW ALPINE YOUTH GUIDES

I did not even think that I will be granted an opportunity to work in Alpine Fund. Now I want to set a goal to learn English and to learn more about people’s behavior and psychology. So in the future it will be easier for me to deal with children that I am going to work with. I’ve recently started my work at Alpine Fund. I would like to receive as much knowledge and work experience as I can, so in the future it will be easier to give others what I get here and teach my friends. I would also like to work on the computer. That is what I would like to learn.  Yuri Kravchenko

When I came to Children’s Home, my dream was to start attending trainings conducted by Lyosha (note: Alpine Fund trainer). This dream came true. Later when I started attended trainings, my new wish was to receive Alpine Fund T-shirt, which also came true in a while. Some times later Lyosha was choosing people for Alpine Youth Guides and I had a burning desire to be chosen. I worked hard on reaching my goal: I attended English and trainings. Now I am at the Alpine Fund and I would like to speak English as well as Farida. I have all the opportunities now and I will do my best to use them. I would like to learn how to use computer. And my biggest dream right now is to obtain a profession, learn English and teach other children what I learn here n I will definitely reach my goals. I would also like to learn how to behave on public because it is very important, as well, as speak properly. I would like Farida and Elizavetta Vladimirovna to teach me. It is very important to me. Maia

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JULY 4 MUSIC FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER
 
On July 4th Alpine Fund held a first of its kind music festival fundraiser with the new Golden
Bull Restaurant and Johnny’s Pub in the center of Bishkek.  The event was a no-cover outdoor event inviting the community with the purpose of raising funds and promoting local awareness of the Alpine Fund.

Alpine Fund spent about a month planning logistics and marketing the community event.  The Golden Bull Restaurant partnered by offering a venue for the festival, providing support with sound equipment and donating 10 percent of proceeds to the Alpine Fund.  Acts included Bishkek Folk performers, American rock band T&A, local R&B group SOB and Johnny with Liquid Cactus.

The outdoor festival began at 5:00, but unfortunately as the first act played storm clouds moved in forcing the equipment and performers to be rushed inside.  The Alpine Fund was hoping to use the outdoor facilities but even though the event was forced inside it still turned out successful.  Around 200 guests came and the Alpine
Fund raised about $200.

Alpine Fund and the Golden Bull were both very pleased with the outcome.  The Alpine Fund is considering  managing another event for the fall and is exploring seasonal event fundraisers as a method way to  communicate with the public and generate revenues for youth programs.

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2003 SUMMER CAMP

For the first time in our history, summer camps became part of our fundraising campaign.  Summer camps were always part of our program. We enjoyed taking children to the mountains or to the lake and give them skills and knowledge they need to be successful in real life. Due to financial difficulties this year, usual Alpine Summer camps did not happen, which is such a shame because children our considered them to be a real life school. And this year it turned out that some international organizations share this opinion.

Community Investment Action Project (CAIP) learned about our Alpine Summer camps and decided that it would be nice to conduct similar camps for students from rural areas in Kyrgyz and Kazakh Republics. The Alpine Fund was asked to run educational part of the summer camp and cooperate with CAIP, Academy of Educational Development (AED).

Summer camps will take place in Arslan-Bob, nut-woods in the south of Kyrgyz Republic. There will be two shifts of the camps, 10 days each. During summer camps Alpine Fund will organize two-day hikes and keep all evenings busy by taking participants to short treks to waterfall or mountains. During the treks, participants will be taught about the importance of environmental protection and the current ecological situation in the world. Moreover using peer-to-peer concept, daily seminars will be conducted on HIV/AIDS and STDs prevention, drugs and alcohol abuse, conflict resolution, leadership, effective presentation, gender equality and they will work towards cultural integration between Kyrgyz and Kazakh students. There will be a wide range of fun social activities in the evenings, including competitions, sport games, pop quiz shows, disco and etc.

This is a new experience for Alpine Fund. We are charging a fee for conducting the summer camps and renting our gear and equipment. This summer might become our first step in Summer Camp Business and we’ll be able to make up for this year’s financial hardships and run summer camps for residents of care institutions. 

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SUMMER IN VOENNO ANTONOVKA CHILDREN’S HOME

What comes on your mind, when you hear a word “summer”? Summer camps, family trips, visits to grandparents, etc.?  Well, for some of the residents of Voennaya Antonovka’s Children’s Home, summer is the only time they can leave that place where they spend all of their time. So they look forward to it just as all other ordinary children.

Summer vacation for the majority of children in VACH starts on May 25^th. Preparations start in spring: along with their teachers, kids plant tomatoes, herbs and flowers and paint trees white (to keep insects away). When the official break starts, children that have a place to go (relatives, former neighbors or acquaintances) leave VACH. The rest start painting rooms and fixing shelves and wardrobes. Meanwhile, the director negotiates opportunity for the kids to go to sanatoriums and summer camps. As a result, at fall VACH becomes a melting pot of kids who have either attended a camp organized by church, other religious organizations or non-religion affiliated Soviet-inspired summer camps. 

Of course, it would be ideal if all children could attend summer camps. The reality is that only small percentage, chosen based on unknown criteria, spends their summer in camps. The rest end up in different places: sanatoriums, hospitals, elderly people rehabilitation centers, etc..

But… if a child had a bad behavior throughout the year, then he gets sent to hospital for those who have mental problems.

So what happens to the VACH itself? Some small children and some older ones that did not get a chance to go anywhere stay there. However it usual structure changes: all children live in one “family” (usually all residents are divided into 4 different groups called “families” comprised of children of different ages, mixed boys and girls). Children have nothing to do but watch TV since as many other children they don’t want to spend summer reading books.

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  TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE KIDS FROM DORDOI

Photo gallery from trip

A few days ago we were working hard at the office when we started talking about the mountains and how we had to organize some outdoor activities very soon, not only for the good of the kids but for ours also as we were getting a bit tired of the never ending office work. The last few weeks were kind of mad as we were preparing a couple of “big” summer camps for August, dealing with the distribution of the Spanish humanitarian aid, writing project proposals, teaching, etc… somehow we felt we were missing the point, after all Alpine Fund is supposed to use nature and mountains to help kids to learn more about themselves, their friends and their capabilities… so how on earth we ended up working non stop in this office for so many weeks.  When Garth suggested that we could take some of the kids that attend my English lesson at Dordoi  I just thought, what a fantastic idea, why didn’t I think about it before!

Most of the kids at Dordoi don’t get many opportunities to leave the area where they live, sometimes they travel to Bishkek or visit some relatives but mostly they stay in their micro region. Due to their economic situation a trip to the beautiful mountains some 50kms away is something almost impossible.

Now we had to decide on how many kids we could take, 6 was the initial number, we stack to it for a couple of days but of course it didn’t take long before we added a couple more and the final number “allowed” was 8. Only 8 because we did not have much money and also because some of the people at the Alpine Fund were on holidays but we got loads of enthusiasm and plenty of food donated by the Spanish soldiers so they only thing to sort out was transport. On Tuesday I had to make a list of the “chosen” ones, you can imagine how bad I felt selecting only eight. I wanted to take all of them, each one deserves it for a different reason. 

So the time came to make the announcement, the kids, Zakia (the social worker) and me had a little meeting before the English lesson. Children were very excited with the idea of spending some time in the mountains and soon they looked at me saying “me, me please pick me” in Russian. At the end I couldn’t help it and ended up selecting 9 of them. One more than planned but after all I had the perfect excuse, Raijan and Salkan, are inseparable, these 10 year old always come and go together so to chose one and not the other would have been “cruel”. Best friends, always wearing the same red shorts and t-shirts. I was told once that some people dress their children in red for “protection” and for good luck for their future. These two girls have been wearing the same red clothes for the last 2 months. Raijan’s T-shirt has a little horse that used to have a tail attached to it but it went missing a few weeks ago. I was wondering how the non selected kids would react, maybe they’d walk away in disappointment and stop attending the lesson but not, most of them stayed and we all hope that in the future we could repeat the experience with different children.

On Wednesday, it was raining nonstop most of the day but on Thursday, our big day, the sun was shinning and there were not a single cloud in the sky. I went to collect them with the minibus, it was hot and there they were, all waiting impatiently for me. I ended up bringing as many kids as we could fit in the minibus, 11 of them plus the mom that came to help us out. The rest just had to stay behind and waived us good-bye. We stopped at the office to collect Garth and a few extra sleeping bags, boots, etc for the extra kids and one last stop at the market to get some watermelons and other last minute food like bread, etc and on our way we went. We arrived at the Alpine Fund dacha (summer cabin) and one of their first questions was if there was a TV there. Sorry guys, you don’t come all this way to find a television. Soon we went to get some water from the spring 5 minutes away, all the way enjoying some of the tasty berries we found in our way, yummy.

After lunch we worked a bit clearing some of the weeds around the campfire place and played some games waiting for the day to cool down a bit before starting our first trek.  The kids were impatient and wanted to go straight away and didn’t stop asking every minute or two, “so are we going to the mountains now?” The most persistent one was Sulkan, the smallest of them all. She didn’t say a word but just grabbed my hand constantly and pushed me in the direction of the mountains, there was no way of convincing her that we had to wait longer. We played more then went to get water and to explore the surroundings. I took off with 4 girls looking for the others that left earlier and we ended up crossing a bridge over the river with some amazing rapids, yes, despite the heat swimming there was just out of the question for any of us. Later on we came to a little creek, the girls wanted to get in the water but after sticking their feet into the cold water they quickly changed their minds. This water runs all the way down form the glaciers so it is very cold, so after cooling down a bit we went back to the dacha to joint the others.

Finally we started our trek, walking uphill was not easy but sometimes the kids even raced each other uphill and started running up for a few meters before giving up and resting for a while. Everyone was really happy, commenting about the awesome views, trying to locate Bishkek and Dordoi in the distance, or the dacha, also asking if we were going really to the top of the mountains (of course we were not going that far but I kept on telling them "yes we’ll go all the way to the peak so we can play with the snow and make a snowman'. 

Soon they realized that it was harder than it looks but no one wanted to give up and every time we had a stop they looked back amazed and said how little everything was getting. The place was awesome; different types of bushes and colorful and beautiful wildflowers surrounded us most of the way. Some kids and the mom decided that they had enough and stayed behind playing while the rest of us made it all the way to the top, well not to the snow peak really but our goal,  from where we could hardly distinguish the resting group, little dots in an amazing setting. It was great to be up there, the panoramic views were spectacular and the kids felt proud of themselves for having conquered such an achievement.

Coming downhill was great fun, we all ran down like mad, jumping over bushes and sometimes having difficulties to stop but always laughing a lot. Soon we joined the main group and made it all the way back feeling a bit tired but happy. We had a digital camera and back at the dacha we looked at the photos and little movies of all of us running downhill. It was better than any TV and of course the kids wanted to take photos all the time. Putting up the tents was a first ever experience for them and wondered for a while what to do with the poles, even tried to make a square structure and then looked at us hopelessly looking for instructions. They learned quickly and soon the three tents were up and everyone was deciding who sleeps where.

Dinner was also exciting,  we were all curious about trying the individual army kits for heating food.  Soon they were all quiet and busy setting up the kits and observing their metal cups filled with water warming up. Dinner was good and afterward we had some games and believe it or not disco, we danced away and even the guard of the area and his dog joining in, To - as he put it himself - teach us how to dance. Later on we gathered around the fire for some conversation and soon the kids started to disappear, they wanted to go to sleep, which was strange because normally everyone loves the campfire but it was a long, and tiring day for them. Soon we realized that it was their first time ever sleeping in a tent and using sleeping bags and they couldn’t wait. After a while they started singing, talking loudly to the people in the other tents and finally emerged form the tents and got back to the campfire.

The night was beautiful and the sky was covered with big and bright stars. We went for a little walk to a place without trees from where we could see the firmament, managed to identify some constellations before heading back and going to sleep, this time for real.

The next day was also good, after a breakfast that was too sweet for my liking (but no doubt we would need all those calories) and packing the tent we started a new trek, this time we made it to the place in Ala Archa where there is a sky lift, luckily there were other people there that wanted to make it to the top so the price for operating the lift was affordable and soon we were all on our way up there. Another new experience for them to be so high up in a “little swing look alike” as they called it. It was a very exciting moment and once at the top we had 30 minutes. Some of us decided to go to the top of a hill and some decided to stay behind and play ball games instead. It was a hard and quick ascent as we did not have much time to spare but the views were breathtaking. Worth all the effort and we were impressed by the two little, but with strong determination, 10 years old as they made it all the way up there, especially Salkan in her flip flops as we did not have any boots fitting her. After a few photos and one movie we descended and played a bit with the rest while waiting for the sky lift to be running again.

Down we went, everyone an expert now, then we had a snack and started the return, a relaxing stroll downhill. After lunch one last chance to see the latest photos and movies and the end of our time there, the minibus driver was there waiting for us, reluctantly we packed everything in and started the return back to the city, back to normal life and work. I have to say that any of us was very excited about it but we had a fantastic time. Most of the kids were tired and felt asleep. When we arrived back at Dordoi they left quickly after saying once again thanks looking forward to tell everyone about this adventure. Soon afterwards we were back at the office, tired and once again surrounded by boxes and with loads of things to do but we were feeling really good and already planning the next trip.

The experience was very positive, having the chance to spend time with these children and getting to know each other in a different environment was excellent, I even got used to them calling me teacher Marga now. Their curiosity is amazing and also all the efforts they made to improve my Kyrgyz skills, now I can say even “I understand” which is not that helpful if you consider that I can’t really understand that much. But I learned many Kyrgyz words, especially about animals and nature and all the other things we found in our way. They improved also their English and always wanted to know what do you call this or that in English.

The only thing that was kind of disappointing was to see their lack of environmental awareness as they kept of throwing things away everywhere, that’s their natural reaction, I don’t need it so I throw it away anywhere, never mind if there is a trash bag near by or if we are in the beautiful mountains. We kept an eye on them and made them to collect everything back all the time and at the end even they became aware of it and started telling each other off for littering but we ended up cutting down the sweets supplies of due to this. We can not really blame the kids for this behavior as most of the people here need to be educated in that respect but I hope that they learned something from this trip and that will think it twice before throwing away anything next time. Call me an optimist but I think at least a few of them got this message across.

And Garth gives a short description

We opened the ALC last weekend by taking 11 kids that attend Marga’s English classes at the Center for the Protection of Children’s youth house at the Dordoi Market north of Bishkek. Marga Ledo, Garth Willis and a mother of one of the children led the trip.

Almost no words for how great the weekend was, the kids kept thanking me, but I could only thank them in return.  The ALC is an hour’s drive from town straight up towards the mountains. We piled into a van at the Alpine office; loaded it up with kids, camping equipment, Meals Ready to Eat that the Spanish soldiers had donated, and headed out of the city.

The cabin is too small to hold the 11 kids and three adults so we brought tents and sleeping bags for the kids. Once at the cabin first was to set down the rules and explain why we were there. I had not met the kids before, nor did they exactly know why Marga had volunteered at the center for two months, or we decided to go to the mountains, or even what the Alpine Fund does; but at the time none of that really mattered. We sat down and I described the program, for two day we are going to relax and be kids and enjoy ourselves. They are working all summer in the market, the last thing I would do is set a schedule of events. But thee nearby river was flowing fast so I asked the older kids to watch the younger.

We settled in, went to the spring for water, went for a walk around the territory and took a look at the other cabins. Then after good lunch we went for the serious walk of the day, a walk for three hours up the hills above the cabins, the entire time running around, loving the view and the fun everybody was having. Back at camp was relaxation, the cooking of dinner, trying to set up tents for the first time, and starting games that went until dark, then a small outside disco, an evening campfire, a view at stars, and then sleep. Well the adults went to sleep but outside there was evening tent wars and the one that could not stand to sleep outside and slept in the cabin with the mother.

Morning brought another day of sunshine and this time was planned a full day hike, up the road to the ski lift, then if it is running, hiking up to a higher peak. The walk took several hours, passing by a large cattle and sheep farm, crossing a river and finally up to the ski area. First was a trip to the top where we walked for a short while before having to come down. The view was amazing with the city below and peaks rising above.  Everybody was in awe. Then while waiting for the ride down we played dodge ball on a high flat area; never has the game been played in such a place, well at least not by these kids.

Once back to the cabin we again fixed some food and relaxed outside and waited for the bus to taker us back to the city, once back the kids ran back to their homes and we all of course hoped that this would happen again.

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NEWS FROM KYRGYZSTAN

DEATH OF A CLIMBER

On July 20, 2003 a 41-year-old photojournalist from Turkey, Yashar Uguroglu Ojak, was killed by lightning and a subsequent fall while climbing peak Tikitor in Ala Archa National Park. In this case he died instantly, but since then more attention has been given to the state of the mountain rescue teams in Kyrgyzstan.

I had climbed with Yashar just two days before he was killed on peak Tikitor. We had met while I was with friends camped next to the abandoned Ratsek cabin at the foot of the Ak Sai glacier. As all had arrived on the same day we stayed around camp, setting up a rope on a small wall to practice and loosen up a little. There were three in the group from Turkey, there were there for three weeks and to hopefully write articles about the climbing in the region. Yashar was the photographer, always carrying with him a large camera and tripod. I returned to Bishkek the next day, while the Turks headed up higher to start climbing. His death came as a surprise and reminder that anything can happen. Reports are that the three were descending from the summit when a lightning storm came in, Yashar was struck and fell down a couloir to his death.

Later that week I was asked for an interview not concerning the death of the climber, but my thoughts on the status of the mountain search and rescue teams in Kyrgyzstan. There is history here that needs to be mentioned. In the days of the Soviet Union the mountaineering system was very strong and very structured. Only those that had reached a given level could climb a given peak, those teams were always registered with the rescue teams, and in the case of the Ak Sai region each team would be given a radio that could reach the Ratsek cabin, where they could then radio or help. All of that has of course collapsed. There is no radio at the cabin, and there is no one to even call for help. Over the past decade the ability of the Kyrgyz government and climbing community to provide professional search and rescue has disappeared.

This is not to say that there are not qualified and dedicated alpinists in Kyrgyzstan that would not at a moments notice run into a dangerous situation to save a climber’s life, there are those individuals in Kyrgyzstan. But they are not organized, not equipped, and in the high tourist season are usually out in the mountains guiding. If a serious accident occurs in the mountains that require a large scale or technical rescue the reality is there is no functioning system to offer professional rescue. This was the theme of the journalist work.

I was asked what needed to be done in my opinion to change the situation. First I replied that there needs to be one central point for climbers to register and to find good information. This should be located in the center o Bishkek as it is the place of arrival for most climbers that come to the country. This center would gather information about climbing plans, contact information of climbers, check to see if they have evacuation insurance and could use the model that climbers should insure themselves for rescue or be asked to pay. This center could also be the base for rescues, including be a storehouse of necessary gear and be the number to call if there is an accident.

I was then asked what in my opinion was stopping this from happening. I had a one word, Corruption. Foreign countries have given material aid in the past, only to have it sold in the markets, everybody knows that a fund to pay for rescues would disappear; it is a sad situation, but the reality for this small country that is known as one of the most corrupt in the region. As I was telling this to the journalist next to him as sitting the director of Ala Archa Park, who last year had allowed us to hold a camp in the park, but only if we took two of his kids each session. Corruption is so deep that people do not even recognize it anymore. That was my answer.

It is hoped that there will be more meeting on the subject, and I hope that the Alpine Fund gets involved. Developing a professional rescue service is no small task, even in a country with resources; here it is needed, desired, hoped for, and maybe even possible. It is good that the conversation has started.

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VISIT OF NORWEGIAN ASSOCIATION OF MOUNTAIN HIKERS’ JAN THOMPON

see photos

Jan Thompon, the Secretary General of the Association of Mountain hikers in Norway, visited Kyrgyzstan to research ways that the Norwegian government could help develop cultural trekking using the lessons from the Norwegian concept of cabin-to-cabin hikes. Garth Willis, president of the Alpine Fund, assisted his research. Garth has been asked to research the potential for such assistance in the area of Southern Issyk Kul.

Jan came with an official delegation from Norway to look into various ways that the Norwegian government could help Kyrgyzstan. He stayed a few extra days to research the potential for hiking in Kyrgyzstan and what help his association could provide. We started the research by visiting several tour companies and development agencies. He was particularly interested in the companies that were developing cultural based tours.  What we found was that there are, broadly speaking two types of agencies, those from the Soviet era that are very efficient at organization, but have little contact with village culture, and those that are based in communities, but not able to organize large treks for big groups. It is here that there is a possibility for development, to join the idea of trekking and culture.

On the third day we took a drive to Suusamyr, a high mountain area about four hours drive from Bishkek. We went with Marga and Oxana, two volunteers from the Alpine Fund. We were able to see life in the countryside, drank horse’s milk, went for a ride on a horse, and walked along a river. We also stopped by the local tourist agency, which is nothing more than a house with a sign, we asked a few questions of the owner about tourism, at first he was not ready to talk, but then loosened up and described how for the past few years tour companies had promised that the tourists would come, how they had prepared for the tourists, then nobody. For him tourism was a waste of time, yet he saw potential and wanted to be ready if people were interested in staying in a high mountain yurt.

After the meetings and travel I sat with Jan and explained the situation and potentials in Kyrgyzstan. First that the entire south of the country was not exactly off limits to tourism, but cultural based trekking is not on the horizon. Political conflicts, landmines in border areas and complete lack of infrastructure would doom any project to failure. This is unfortunate because the south needs development and there are amazing areas for cultural trekking, but for a project that wants to show results in the near future the south is out of the question. Naryn oblast is also a potential area for treks, but as it is high mountain steppes horse treks are better suited, Talas Oblast is too out of the way, and the area around Bishkek is simply not exotic enough. This leaves Issyk Kul Lake as the one and obvious place for development potential. The north shore is not really a consideration; there the economy is based on the good beaches and large resorts. But the south shore is so beautiful, so wild and undeveloped, so perfect for trekking, so full of high mountain yurts that it is the place for his ideas.

The Norwegian association is inviting a few individuals to visit Norway this summer, and then another group from Norway will come to Kyrgyzstan in fall to visit the potential development area. To help the process along the Association has asked me to visit the south shore of the lake as well as a trip to Peak Nancina (named after a Norwegian explorer) on the Inycheck Glacier. This trip will take approximately two to three weeks and will start as soon as I finish writing this Update.

I addition to this research project I have also been asked to document the climbing areas in Kyrgyzstan for the American Alpine Journal, to assist their cartographer in September, and to make it to a conference on Central Asia in the beginning of October at Harvard where I should present a paper titled “The Potential of Mountain Tourism in Kyrgyzstan” The question is can I do all that and climb peak Khan Tengri (6995m) and keep the Alpine Fund alive and running all at the same time? All I can say is stay tuned for details.  

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RAID GAULOISES ECO-RACE IN KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyzstan hosted the world’s first and largest eco-race, the French-sponsored Raid Gauloises, in June 2003.  39 teams of four entered to trek, bike, climb, paddle and horse-back ride nearly 1000 km from from Jeti-Oguz to Toktogul.

For one of the first times ever, the host country team, Kyrgyzstan, finished the grueling race, a great achievement.    First place went to the Americans.

The event is to be internationally broadcasted in August.  Official news and the race’s website is at www.raidgauloises.com.

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PHOTO EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS THE FACES OF ORPHANS FROM KYRGYZSTAN

- Damian Wampler spent two months traveling to orphanages in Kyrgyzstan, his black and white portraits capture all the moods of the children, and shows how they are first kids, not orphans.

The show was held at the Frunze museum from mid July to July 24th. All the pictures show a close of view and an expression of such a variety of kids that no one can leave the exhibit without feeling that something must be done to give them a better chance in life.

Most impressive in the photographs is how close Damian seems o get to his subjects, and how natural the portraits are.

Damian has been kind enough to donate the profits from the sale of the photographs to the Alpine Fund. After the show closes on the 25th of July it will be moved for a short time to the US embassy then on to more exhibit sites.     

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NEWS FROM THE ALPINE LEARNING CENTER

As of today's writing, July 23rd, I visited the ALC to check on reports that a massive landslide has struck near the Center. I could not get close as all the bridges have been taken out by flash floods. But the whole area is a mess, and the area we walked in just days ago is now under meters of mud - amazing. It seems as though the ALC has survived, but is now not accessible by road, almost as it is on an island surrounded by water flows. Initial reports are that a lave gave way high up in the mountains and the water has come crashing down. nobdy has seen anything like it.

It appears that a large lake below peak Comsumolsk gave way after weeks of heavy rain. The flood came down in two parts, one right into the area where are located  several hundred summer cabins, the other part of the flood hit the main road leading into Ala Archa National Park. The ALC was missed by less than 100ft, just below the cabin there used to a a place to get spring water, now that area is a mess of deep mud and flowing water. The number of cabins destroyed is at this time hard to say, perhaps around 30 and it is expected that there are deaths but that is information the government prefers not to publish.

The road into Ala Archa will be closed for an estimated three months as the road is dug out and the bridges rebuilt. It is however possible to walk a past the area of the mudslide. The road is closed 6km above the main gate to the park.

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