Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan
Newsletter 3 – May 2007

Dear all

This is a MASSIVE MISSIVE!

I hope everyone's doing well! Our trip is now less than 2 months away, and time will pass quickly. I'm very excited about it, as I know many of you are; though I am also somewhat in awe of you all entrusting a good bit of your annual leave and hard-earned money with me. I so appreciate your commitment to this project and adventure and am sure that we will all learn a good deal as well as have fun. (I might just let you know now that Laura is trying to entice me into a trip to Tajikistan next year - a Women's Build. Anyone interested? Or know anyone who might be?)

In this newsletter I will have a number of requests for action from you, and I'll also provide you with a good bit of information about the trip (incl attachments). Please write back with questions you have, and Laura and I will do our best to answer them. I hope the information is manageable. I will do my best to make things clear, but it might simply be best to print everything off and head off for a caffe latte/glass of wine and wade through it. (If you have an assistant you would like me to send info to as well who can keep you on track, please let me know their name).

Information from me includes:
The team
People's travel arrangements (the info we have to date)
Information on visas (still incomplete - PLEASE PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THIS PIECE)
Trip outline (still rough and ready)
Life in Barskoon (from an American woman who was there a year ago)
When and where to pay the balance due ("in-country expenses")
Sample packing list
Useful phrases in Russian and Kyrgyz
Our Blog page

Requests for action from you include:
Visa research and possible action
Who you want to share sleeping facilities with, where there's a choice
Pen-sketch on who you are, etc, to share with other members of the team
Info on any construction and language skills you might have
Questions you have

THE TEAM
The team is looking more or less fully formed (and a good size!). It's Mum, Dad, Laura, Francesca, Massimo, Teresa, Peter, Dave, Joanne, Joy, Jen, Mike and me for sure. In addition, people I am still hoping will join us are Jeanne, Anne, and Megan. Please come!

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
It seems that most people are taking the Istanbul-Bishkek flight on Friday 13th July at 19h10, arriving Saturday morning 3h10. To my knowledge, mum, dad, Laura, Dave, Francesca, Massimo, Joanne, Jenny, Mike and I are on this flight. Is this correct?

Coming via Moscow are Peter and Teresa (arriving Sunday 15th morning in Bishkek), and Joy (arriving Saturday 14th morning in Bishkek).

In terms of returning, most of us will be leaving Bishkek early in the morning on Sunday 22nd July, either via Istanbul or via Moscow. Jennifer, from Australia, will head off for a heavenly holiday in Egypt, and Massimo and Francesca will be staying on in Kyrgyzstan. They are arranging a fabulous trekking holiday following our build - they are welcoming other people, and you know, if we weren't leaving 3 kids at home with our aupair, I would be definitely joining that trip. Another time. Contact Massimo at massimo.meroni@personneldecisions.com if you want to be a part of this! It's amazing! The more the merrier, and the more the cheaper in terms of cost!

VISA INFORMATION - very important but still incomplete information.
I have some mother hen behaviour erupting based on actually losing some sleep about visas for each of us. When I went to Armenia it was very simple - I applied for one online with a credit card and never had to send a passport anywhere. Most others applied on landing in Yerevan (and it was cheap and relatively quick - albeit early in the dark morning).

We will each need a visa for Kyrgyzstan (except for Laura who is Romanian). One question is whether or not we need to get it beforehand, and have it in our passports before we take off (last year, British Airways used the fact that some volunteers did not have one in their passports as an excuse for not letting them on the flight - which was overbooked), or if we can rely on being able to get it on arrival. If there are any doubts, clearly it would be best to organise this in advance. It would be horrific to be turned away from boarding the flight, or sent home, because of needing a visa. Another question is whether or not we can have a group visa and organise everything for the team as a whole.

Laura and I have done some research on visas for Kyrgyzstan. Attached is a document which says which countries require visas. Unless any of us holds a diplomatic passport, we will all need a visa.

We hope to get a definitive answer this week as to whether or not we can get a group visa (if so, I will be needing passport information and possibly copies from each of you). Otherwise we will each have to receive a Letter of Invitation from the Kyrgyz authorities, inviting us to visit the country. This will be sufficient to get a visa from an embassy or consulate - BUT we might still need to turn up in person, which I realise will be highly tedious for all of us busy people. Finally, my hope is that we can all simply get one on arrival, even if early in the morning. You could last year, but we want to know 100% for this year.

I hope to have more information on this really quickly. In the meantime, why not Google Visa Kyrgyzstan and see what you come up with. I found sites doing this for people in the US, and also one for Geneva. Please pass any information you find out to me. http://russia.russianconcept.com/services/kyrgyzstan-visa.shtml `

In the meantime, please also check that your passport is valid for at least 6 months following the end of our trip.

TRIP OUTLINE
The plan remains:
Saturday (those of us there), and Sunday morning: Bishkek, acclimatise, relax and wander around, go to a market; we have rooms booked for Friday and Saturday nights so that there's a bed available when we land
Sunday pm: travel by minibus to Barskoon (NOTE approx 6 hours... will not be comfortable!)
Monday-Wednesday am: work on site in Barskoon
Wed pm and Thursday: time off in the mountains (NOTE - now most likely a hike into the mountains rather than by horseback; stay up in "yurts" and have camp meal cooked; bring WARM CLOTHES!)
Friday and Sat am: work
Sat pm: travel back to Bishkek and stay in small hotel
Sunday am: fly back

LIFE IN BARSKOON
I spoke to a fascinating young woman named Tanya who now lives in New York and works for children in Africa with AIDS, but who previously worked for Habitat for Humanity in both Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan (all this with a baby under the age of 1). What an interesting life she has led and with what dedication. She signs her emails with a quote from Hellen Keller: "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do". Makes you think, doesn't it? Here's what I learned when we spoke, and I have the offer to call her back with more questions, so please ask.

Barskoon is a tiny little village. About 5 minutes from Lake Issy-Kol, in which we will be able to swim (bring swimming stuff!). Very agricultural area, and horses, cows, sheep lie lazily in the roads/tracks. Backdrop to the village is the beautiful Tien Shan mountain range (high!).

Life is basic: for her team of approx 16, people were accommodated in two separate houses, and all ate together in one of the homes. Definitely a chance to live life with local Kyrgyz families. No toilets, but out-houses. "Not nasty disgusting, but still outhouses; toilet paper very rough; bring your own". No showers or running water, but they have steam baths which work just fine. Small room with a wood-burning stove which heats water to a steam. Water available to throw over yourself. Share and be intimate, or be quick and take turns. (In Bishkek there will be running water and showers, but imagine post-Soviet era okay?)

Sleeping arrangements will also be basic and informal. Probably 3-4 rooms for all of us in Barskoon. Bring ear plugs! Sleeping on padded mats of sorts - probably fairly comfortable, but not a bed. With Tanya's team, women shared one room, men another, and marrieds/couples another. I guess we can work out what works for most of us between now and then, but send me any preferences of people you'd rather share with!

Food: a lot of lamb and some beef; it will be very hard if you are vegetarian (is anyone??) Kyrgyz people were traditionally nomads, so were not around in one place long enough for crops to grow. Makes sense. You can pick out the meat in your plate without hurting the cook's feelings but your diet won't be so interesting. Lots of rice and noodles. Plov is a rice-based meal with raisins, carrots, onions and beef. Lagman is home-made noodles with vegetables. Last year for Tanya's trip, two village women did all the cooking. For breakfast, bread, home-made jams, fried eggs, some type of ham (though not ham, since as Muslims they do not eat pork), porridge of different kinds, tea, coffee. Beware of unwrapped ice and ice-cream, but packaged stuff will be fine. All of our food will be cooked with boiled water. We will get bottled water on the site (though Tanya said that Kyrgyz free-flowing water was cleanest of all, being straight off the high mountain glaciers!). And snacks will be brought out to us. My experience in Armenia was that we were forever eating and drinking tea/thick coffee/water, and chatting with sign language. It was a very sociable time and we learned a lot! Yes, I put on a kilo or two.

Alcohol: hmm... Habitat's policy is not to provide any, and it will not be available in the evenings/provided by the families. However, there's a village shop where "piva"/beer is available, and the team last year let the shop owner know how many cold beers they required at the end of the work day and it worked out just fine. Wine is also available. So we can buy our own it seems. Phew!

We can bathe/swim in the lake with normal swimming costumes - so yes it's Muslim, but we can still be indecent Westerners. Other Barskoon village women will also do this. In terms of dress, Tanya recommended that women keep shoulders covered, but short sleeves are okay. She said some Kyrgyz women would wear shoulderless clothes, even in Barskoon, but since there are practising Muslims about, and we want to feel accepted by the local community, we should go for sleeves of some kind. So Tanya's, and now my, advice is that women wear t-shirts rather than sun-tops (anyway, the sun will probably be strong). As for legs, full trousers, long shorts or "capris" probably best. Again, avoid burning. Women don't need to cover their hair (though of course a sun hat will be essential). Men get away with wearing less, but sun still very strong, so be warned!

Tampons, toilet paper, anti-diahorrea, other medication, anything else like this - bring your own for the entire trip!

Kit: will need a light rain jacket, solid boots for walking and working, and a fleece for mornings and evenings (we are high up); sun hat, sun glasses, sun cream, anti-diahorrea, water purification tablets just in case. There's a more detailed packing list attached.

Technology: cellphones will probably work (but expensive) (remember adaptor for charger). According to this website, it seems that what is used in France, Belgium, etc, works in Kyrgyzstan, but please do your own research! http://www.notebooktravel.co.uk/userguides/unielectricalkit2.htm Internet? Unlikely in Barskoon. Yes in Bishkek. (But you're on holiday, right?) No idea about Blackberries working. Polaroid camera: anyone have one? Apparently it's a great asset in the village, especially with local kids who will show you around and be fascinated with photos taken of themselves.

What to buy? Nothing really in Barskoon. But in Bishkek, there is Osh Bazaar, Central Asia's largest bazaar (rugs, carpets...)

Presents for local families: this is important. We will be highly integrated into local villagers' lives. My impression in Armenia, in a much less remote area than Barskoon, was that we were an event. We got press coverage! There is much curiosity, and I think it's important we create the best possible impression. Part of this of course is respect for their way of living, attempting the language, appropriate curiosity, etc, and part is sharing information about us, information about where we live, and providing small gifts. Some ideas include: soccer/footballs for kids, sweets, colouring books and pencils/feltpens, pencils, soaps, writing paper, writing pads, tea towels, oven gloves, postcards of where we live, photos of family/kids/friends, clock-radio, utility knife/army knife, cup or mug from where we live, etc. The idea is that we will give pressies to some of the kids, and group other presents together in bags for the families who look after us. If you can leave some kit behind (e.g., gloves for construction, work boots, jeans, other clothes in good condition), this will also probably be appreciated. We will soon know more about our host families, and that will give us more sense of their needs and appreciations.

WHEN AND WHERE TO PAY THE BALANCE DUE
I believe that most of us have paid the $350 donation to Habitat (who still needs to do this??) Now it's time to pay up the rest - the in-country costs. These amount to $650 which includes a bit of a buffer for emergencies or unforeseen things. Anything left over in our fund will be given to the affiliate rather than reimbursed.

If you are not a US citizen, please pay this on the Germany website. If you're a US citizen, then use the US one to get a statement you can use against taxes. For Germany, convert the amount into Euros (use http://www.xe.com/ucc/ to get current rates). Web links are as follows.

For US Citizens (Joanne, Dave, Joy), pay on http://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=6562-0129, “donate online” on the right. Trip code is GV 8960.

For all of the rest of us, use https://www.hfhd.de/donate_credit_en.htm either choosing “donate online” or wire transfer to the bank account:
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY DEUTSCHLAND eV Account/ Konto Number: 1058940 01 IBAN DE41 1007 0024 0105 8940 01Routing/ BLZ Number: 100 700 24SWIFT/ BIC CODE: DEUTDEDBBERBank: Deutsche Bank PGK AG, Berlin, Deuschland
Use GV 8960 so we can track what people have paid. Please let me know when you have done this so we can do a double tracking.
NOTE: Francesca and Massimo paid €350 last time rather than $300, so just work out the difference. Teresa and Peter have one night, not two, in Bishkek on arrival, and rooms (shared) are $27 per person per night, so please just deduct $27 each. I leave you to work out the exact contributions.


SAMPLE PACKING LIST
Ask for the list created by a previous visitor to Kyrgyzstan from either me or Laura.

USEFUL PHRASES IN RUSSIAN AND KYRGYZ
I can share the list in a word document.

ACTIONS FROM YOU

Visa research - see what you find out. Share information back with me. Check your passport has 6+ months to run from end July 07. Be patient and we will let you know what we need to do.
Photocopy of passport to go to Laura - please SCAN and email so we have a copy anyway
Pay up $650 on the appropriate website
Write a short paragraph on who you are, why you want to come to Kyrgyzstan, what you want to get out of it, etc, to share with other members of the team. We don't all know each other.
Info on any construction skills you have - we don't know yet what house we will be working on, nor its state of build
Languages you speak
Your mobile phone number - in case of hiccups when in transit to Kyrgyzstan
Questions you have of me, Laura, or else of Tanya who knows Barskoon