Red Cross Blogs

The Red Cross partnership which has transformed lives in Kyrgyzstan

By Nick Young
September 8, 2011 at 1:19 pm

I visited Kyrgyzstan with Vicky Peterkin, vice chairman of the British Red Cross. We have been in partnership with the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent since 2005 and Rosa Shayakhmetova, its secretary general, was keen that we should see the work. A lot of our support to the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent has been in the field of organisational development, to make it more self sufficient and more able to cope at times of crisis.

Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked central Asian republic, formerly part of the Soviet Union. It has a population of five million and is about the size of Austria and Hungary. The country is mountainous, fairly fertile and extremely hot in the summer. It is also poor, politically unstable and prone to disasters, with under-funded public services and increasing health issues.

During our four-day visit we travelled to the cities of Karabalta, Osh and Jalal-Abad, and visited the various programmes and activities run by the British Red Cross. It was great to see the relationship that has developed between the British Red Cross and the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent – there is a sense of trust, confidence, openness and real partnership. There are clear signs that we have successfully helped the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent grow into a mature, professional organisation with the potential to develop much further yet.

Tackling health problems

Kyrgyzstan’s high rate of TB, and growing – largely drugs-related – HIV problems are the focus for the British Red Cross’ work in the country. We support the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent’s community-based health and first aid programme. The programme runs peer education in schools and other establishments, and awareness raising campaigns with vulnerable groups such as truck and taxi drivers, drug abusers and others with chaotic lifestyles.

In Jalalabad, we had some memorable talks with groups of passionate peer-educators and former TB patients who are now Red Crescent volunteers. An elderly woman described her daughter’s death from TB and how this experience had inspired her to volunteer for the Red Crescent, encouraging others to seek early diagnosis and treatment.

The Red Crescent programme encourages people with TB to access and complete their treatment. I met a 74-year-old man who had recently recovered from TB. He grasped my hand in a finger-crunching fist as he told us what he had done to recover. He waved his arms, waggled his prayer beads and bawled out his advice to our startled group – then yelled his thanks with tears in his eyes.

Improving opportunities for women

Possibly the jewel in the crown of the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent’s activity is the women’s programme, which is part funded by the UK Department for International Development. Vulnerable women receive training in vocational skills, like sewing and using computers, combined with health messages. We talked to women whose lives had been transformed by this programme, and they talked movingly about the small businesses and self-help groups they have set up. Vicky also found herself a lovely new dress in the women’s sewing workshop.

Another key aspect of the women’s programme has been a high-profile advocacy campaign. The campaign aims to persuade civilian and religious authorities to put a stop to the practice of bride kidnap, and to the granting of informal marriage certificates by some mullahs (religious leaders).

A series of marches, street theatre performances and meetings with civil and religious leaders culminated – while we were there – in the passing of a new law banning these practices. It was quite wonderful listening to the passion and determination of the women who have conducted this campaign, and their excitement at its success.

Read more about our social care, HIV and TB programmes

Watch a video about our work to support vulnerable women in Kyrgyzstan

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Tags: bride kidnappings, HIV, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent, Peer Educators, TB, Tuberculosis, women

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2011 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Health and social care, International. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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