The Determined Man of Kurbuu

In his later years in life, Abdysh Asaev is working tirelessly to help the children in his beloved village to learn and prosper. Photo: Fran Rodgers/Mercy Corps

Abdysh Asaev is an old man, well past the age of retirement. By rights, he should be sitting back and letting other people help him while he simply dispenses age-old wisdom. But Adbysh Asaev is no ordinary old man.

Born, raised and still living in Kurbuu, which is situated in eastern Kyrgyzstan close to the Chinese border, Adbysh Asaev has witnessed the slow disintegration of the town's only school because of the negligence of the former Soviet authorities.

Built in 1970 from pre-fabricated parts, the building was intended to be used only as a temporary site for educating children but time and lack of funding to replace it forced this "temporary" site to become permanent. As if to add insult to injury, there were never any funds available to do any sort of repairs and the building slowly deteriorated to the point of being hazardous for children and teachers alike.

Two years ago, the State Department on Construction ordered the town to cease holding classes in this building because it was so dangerous. The community banded together and erected a simple shell of a building and the Ministry of Emergency provided them with lumber and slate for the roof. But that was all they could do - erect the shell of a building without even the most basic of amenities such as heat or electricity.

Then came the final order from the government: either finish the work or close the school. If closed, their children would have had to walk four kilometers over muddy, barren land to attend classes in the neighboring village. This outraged Abdysh Asaev. He wanted the 250 children of Kurbuu to study in Kurbuu.

About the same time, Mercy Corps' Community Mobilizers made a presentation to this small community, describing the Global Food for Education Initiative program and the details of our small grants component. Abdysh Asaev attended this meeting and a fire was lit inside of him. He went on a virtual rampage, organizing the community and lighting a fire under them as well. Realizing that his health would not permit him to work as tirelessly on the project as he would need to or wanted to, he asked a younger man to take over the work for him - but he was never far from the action nor was there a detail about which he didn't know.

Today, because of an old man's passion for the children and the future of his village and as a result of a grant from Mercy Corps, on behalf of USDA's Global Food for Education Initiative, Kurbuu's children are studying in a warm, dry and safe building. And today, Abdysh Asaev is a temporarily happy man. Knowing him, he's probably working on more plans to improve his village and having an easier time of convincing the other residents that anything is possible if they work together.