On the Streets of Osh

Gul Luba stood in front of her burnt-out home. It was also her burnt-out business. She sold food items and cold drinks out of her store front facing a main road in the heart of Osh city. She stands stout, has a round face that expresses experience, and sun hardened skin. As she told her us the story of her current situation, she cried. Her business, and attached home, were just one of a block of buildings that were burned, looted, and completely destroyed in the unrest that occurred on June 11. Gul Luba recently took out a loan to help pay for two new refrigerators to make sure the sodas and ice cream bars she sold were the coldest and would stay fresh longer. She lost everything.

Women sell produce and other goods in front of a destroyed market in Osh. Photo: Pete O'Farrell/Mercy Corps

This is my first trip to Central Asia and it was unplanned. With hundreds dead and tens of thousands displaced, Mercy Corps knew it needed to respond. I was sent here to support our team. Basically, my job is to write proposals and take care of administrative needs, allowing Mercy Corps’ highly experienced international and national staff to respond to the crisis. And they have -- before anyone asked, before there was any public appeal, before anyone sent out a fundraising notice, Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan and employees of our wholly owned microfinance bank, Kompanion, used their own money to send trucks of food, soap, toothbrushes, bandages, blankets, and toys to those that had lost everything.

I am currently in Osh to see for myself the aftermath of the recent violence. I learned that Gul Luba’s story is not isolated. Khalil and his family hid in the basement until eventually escaping through the roof to a neighbour’s home for safety. His house was looted then burned. His neighbour was shot through the ankle but is afraid to go to the hospital. I spoke to him as he was watering his tomato plants in the front yard that inexplicably survived the complete gutting of his home. They live in UN-issued tents that sit in the middle of rubble – the family just would not leave its home, even when no house stood.

Those are just the physical scars. People here are angry, sad, distrustful and hurt. There is a curfew in Osh, and colleagues say that people are just now beginning to slowly open up their markets and businesses. The central Osh bazaar is vacant, with just a few people selling onions in front of the once bustling marketplace.

Mercy Corps and Kompanion will focus on a number of interventions to help support Kyrgyzstan and its people – each with his or her story, each story filled with fear and sadness. We work together for the distribution of essential non-food items, such as hygiene materials continues. Mercy Corps is giving household stipends that will allow families to buy food off the local market. Small grants to micro-businesses will help people repair broken windows, restock shelves and begin the process of rebuilding. These interventions will help people start the long process of rebuilding their lives.