Hard Work, Big Dreams

Photo: Mercy Corps Kyrgyzstan.

Gulumkan is an 8-year-old girl. She is the youngest in a family of eleven, including her older brother's wife and children. All of them live in a house that her father built three years ago. Before, they lived in a small earthen house that looked more like a shed than a house.

In 1992, during Tajikistan's civil war, Gulumkan's family moved from Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan, nobody was waiting for them with outstretched arms. The refugees from Tajikistan were placed on an isolated, neglected, and unwanted piece of land called Karimberdi. Gulumkan's father recollects his family's arrival to Kyrgyzstan. "There was no cultivated land, no irrigation system, no trees, nothing. We had no electricity and no drinking water, just land and that is all. We came here searching for a better life. To achieve it we had, and still have, to work very hard," he says.

Gulumkan is in the second grade and studies at a school that was built by Mercy Corps with a grant from UNHCR. When the Soviet Union collapsed, all removable material on the school building was stolen including windows, roofing material, and even the floor. Ten years later, Mercy Corps completely rebuilt it including heating and electrical systems. "We lack the teachers at school. Every year the number of pupils increases. Parents understand and realize that their children should be educated. I want my youngest daughter to be enlightened and educated, because I don't want her to live how we live now, working in the fields, thinking how to survive," says Gulumkan's father.

Last year Gulumkan's father received a loan from Mercy Corps to start a mini flourmill in the village where they live. The mill serves three nearby villages in addition to Karimberdi and has proven to be a profitable enterprise. Mercy Corps disbursed the loan with funding from UNHCR. Gulumkan's father repays the loan in the form of flour and other food products to the school and also supports other very poor refuge families in Karimberdi.

Earlier this year Gulumkan's family received another no-interest loan from Mercy Corps, again with UNHCR funds. They used the money to purchase a cow and calf. "What a joy, excitement and fun there was when my husband led a cow and a calf into the yard. Gulumkan and my grandchildren were constantly asking us whether this cow was ours to keep forever. They're just now getting used to the fact that every day they drink milk and eat bread with sour cream," says Gulumkan's Mother.

"I am so happy that Mercy Corps gave us money to buy a cow and a calf. Every day I graze my cow and calf," says the small but, very serious Gulumkan. "There are pastures around the village and early every morning all the children gather their stock and walk to the pasture. They play, run, sing songs, and just talk."

When asked what chores she does at home in addition to her schoolwork, Gulumkan answers that she sweeps the floor, washes dishes, and looks after her little niece and nephew. "I composed a lullaby at the pasture and every time my niece cries, I sing it to her and she calms down and listens with interest," says the little girl.

When Mercy Corps staff asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, she cried out, "A singer!" But then immediately said seriously, "I want to be a doctor. I want to treat my Mom and Dad, my brothers and sisters, my nieces and nephews, and all the people in Karimberdi. I want them all to be healthy! To become a doctor I'll have to study very hard and get the best grades."

Looking at this 8-year-old girl, I think to myself that this cute kid who has no toys and no colorful books or photo albums, thinks so realistically, even analyses. Her dreams are true to life. Gulumkan is happy because, she has a loving family, many friends - and a cow and a calf!