Standard Hospital sign

I have had some difficult and worrying times recently …

It began one day when one of the kids started complaining of not feeling well … which was a bit odd because he had appeared perfectly happy the previous day … bright, lively and extremely active working on his various projects.

It could, I thought, simply have been a summer cold – an extremely bad case of a summer cold – or perhaps a virus …, There were other factors to consider as well … it’s been extremely hot, uncomfortably hot and I thought it could have been a reaction to the extreme heat – there seem to have been a lot of people having a hard time coping with the high temperatures; all of his friends had disappeared out of town for a while – off to a cycling competition or up to Lake Issyk Kul, so he was more or less at a loose end and so, I thought, his mind and body may simply be reacting to a sudden release of “pressure”; I am not convinced that he eats well – he says he eats a lot, but he’s a fussy eater and I am not convinced he’s getting the right sort of balance of nutrients.

As a result, I didn’t think much of it and let him “sleep it off” …  after all, that normally solves the problem and I am a great believer in the power of the human boy to heal itself.

The trouble was … it didn’t seem to do so this time.

Each day he seem to add a new symptom to the growing list: headache, stomach ache, a general feeling of weakness, occasional vomiting, difficulty breathing, fluctuating temperatures – getting quite high at one point, difficulty in sleeping and pains in his side … and when I added those to that the symptoms that he didn’t describe but that I could see emerging (such as disorientation  and a lack of an ability to concentrate, an occasional slurring of speech), I began to grow more concerned.

Some of those symptoms made me think of heat stroke or heat exhaustion … it’s been very hot here and so we tried to cool him down, have him rest and lie down, and by giving him lots of liquids.

This didn’t seem to help.

Another possible cause that crossed my mind was concussion, but the symptoms came and went, his eyes seemed fine … and he assured me that he hadn’t been involved in a fight, fallen off his bike or hit his head in way.  When I finally tracked down his friends they seemed to back him up on this … so I just kept a “watching brief”.

When, however, after a few days his temperature peaked at a particularly high level,  I got more than a little worried and we decided to call a doctor.

As is usual here, the first thing she asked for was a blood test … so that took up a day, and when we got the results, the only problem seemed to be a relatively high level of sugar in the blood.  Now, I am no doctor but the results showed three columns – the subject being measured, the “normal” levels and the levels in the sample submitted … and it seemed to me that there were three or four out of the normal range … She, on the other hand, was a doctor with knowledge and experience – she knew what those figures actually meant and what they might imply – so I took her word for it.

She also took his blood pressure – which was, like mine usually is, low … but this was extremely low.  ”High temperature – low pressure,” I thought to myself, “what does that signify … ?”, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Anyway, the doctor decided on some course of treatment and described some antibiotics and other medicines and we packed the patient off to rest.

Unfortunately, he didn’t respond well to the medicine … nothing like an allergic reaction but when he started coughing and the doctor said “Take him for a chest X-ray”, the penny dropped – “Could it be? … could it possibly be …?”

Not his X-ray ... but similar

Sure enough, there on the X-ray there was a shadow … something like like four liters of liquid had amassed in his lungs.  The doctor was frank … there was 96% probability of it being Tuberculosis … but a slight change that it was the result of sort of trauma causing a tear in the lungs … only further tests would tell us for sure.  The next day we were to go to the Hospital and see about extracting the liquid … maybe an operation would be called for.

For the record: Operations here seem to be routine – especially exploratory operations … so I wasn’t too happy about that … fortunately there are other procedures for removing the liquid which don’t involve invasive surgery, but they still seem to be called “operations” leading to some confusion and much apprehension.

Fortunately, depending on how you look at it … I have a fair amount of experience with Tuberculosis … I have said elsewhere that my mother had the disease when I was born and I have known three other people contract it – each time having to go for chest X-rays and tests myself as a possible contact, (each time being pronounced “clear”).  As a result I had done some research and knew a little bit about it … but I can’t say I felt that it helped to cope with the uncertainty.

I don’t think any of us slept particularly well that night.  There were lots of questions and I tried to put his mind at ease, these were experienced doctors who, whilst they may not deal with this sort of situation every day, would have met many similar similar cases and knew what to do.

The next day we turned up at the hospital and he underwent further tests … and the doctors decided he was lucky … he was one of the 4% and it wasn’t TB – but the result of some sort of trauma … but I am not sure that this news made him feel any better because he really couldn’t think of anything that could have qualified as such.  Despite that, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Anyway, they managed to extract most of the liquid with a syringe pump … which meant that there was no need for invasive surgery … we all breathed another huge sigh of relief.

The liquid fortunately turned out to be just water, mingled with a little blood … and they sent it off to be tested, just in case.  Fortunately, it turned out that they were right and it was free of any strains of the relevant micro-bacteria that cause the disease.

That wasn’t the end of the story, however.  He was still weak and the doctors said he needed to be admitted to hospital.  I had expected him to resist the suggestion … he was already scared stiff … but, to my surprise, he readily agreed.  Apparently his restless night had given his pause for thought and he had become accustomed to the idea.  Much better for a week in hospital than six months or more which he had been facing if it had indeed been TB.

Hospital room

One of the things that struck me as odd in this experience is that, although the hospital provides the basics … there is a lot expected of the patient’s and their families … we were fortunate in that he has many friends and family members who could rally round but, I wondered, what happens if there aren’t any family nearby?

In the case of food, for example, the hospital does provide some – such as kasha (porridge) and soup – but relatives are encouraged to supplement this and bring in more.

You also have to provide your own linen, crockery and cutlery.

Much more importantly, when it came to medicines – the patient and his relatives are expected to buy any necessary medicines.  I understand the principle … the basic consultation and some other services are free, paid for by social security, but some things (a lot more than you’d find on the NHS in Britain), have to be paid for.

For the record: Britain’s National Health Service, (NHS), “was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth, a principle that remains at its core. With the exception of some charges, such as prescriptions and optical and dental services, the NHS remains free at the point of use for anyone who is resident in the UK. … It covers everything from antenatal screening and routine treatments for long-term conditions, to transplants, emergency treatment, and end-of-life care.”

Not everything, however, is free.  The NHS was founded in 1948 and in 1952, a growing drugs bill prompted the introduction of “prescription charges” – which are paid by patients for drugs or other treatments prescribed for them by a National Health Service medical practitioner. When the plans for their intrdoction were announced a number of Ministers resigned – including the “father of the NHS”, Aneurin Bevan, and the future Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Harold Wilson’s government abolished the charges in 1965, but was forced to reintroduce them again in 1968 in the face of rapidly increasing drain on available finances as doctors began prescribing more and more low-cost medicines that people had previously purchased for themselves … but they also provided for a system of exemptions.

Treatment in hospitals, however, including medicines used in that treatment are free … and people are not normally charged for medicines they are prescribed during a hospital stay – even if they then take them home to complete the treatment once they are discharged.

OK – here in Kyrgyzstan, opatients pay for their medicines … and for us, in reality that meant walking around the hospital calling at the various Aptecka scattered throughout asking “Do you have this? … or that?”, only to be told “We have some of that … “, but not enough to fill the “prescription”, “but we don’t have this” … so you buy what you can and move on to the next apteka.  I even had to leave the hospital to visit a neighbouring apteka on the first night … where, fortunately, they had what we needed.

A few days later however, I was told that we needed a different medicine … and so I trotted off to our local pharmacy … and drew a blank.  ”No, we don’t have that.”  No-one seemed to have it, so I asked if they could recommend that I try and a couple of phone calls later I got the news … “No, sorry, there’s none in Bishkek.”  That led to a frantic phone call, and fortunately the doctor knew where she could obtain some of the elusive medicine – or at least it’s equivalent – and the problem was solved.

I couldn’t help thinking to myself, however, that the hospital should have its own pharmacy, especially where stocks of expensive or the less commonly used medicines can be available … even if the patients have to pay for them.

He is now back home, greatly relieved that his “ordeal” is over.  Although there were a lot of injections and “capalnitza“, (drip feeds), to endure,  it could have been a lot worse.

In fact, I think that perhaps the worst part of the “ordeal” was the boredom – the room was clean, comfortable and spacious – and we arranged with a TV and refrigerator … but it was very hot and humid in the soaring summer temperatures that we’ve been experiencing … and he didn’t feel like doing much apart from lying back and resting … but, in a way, that’s what it was all about … that’s what he needed.

Maxim ... Claytor (?!)

I have written before about Maxim and his hobby: Photography.

He certainly seems to have taken to it … and the results are quite impressive.

Of course, he knows that many photographs are just “snapshots”, ruined (or at least marred) by bad positioning or not taking proper account of the light … or speed.  As with any photographer, a lot of the shots he takes are “brak“, not really good and dispensed with.  Mind you, I am impressed that he seems to spend hours looking them over to see what he can learn from his “mistakes”.

Even the “bad” photos sometimes have the odd redeeming feature … tucked away to one side or in a corner.  Computer software gives him the chance to “clean” them and “crop” them into something quite presentable.

Victor and Andrew, (two of our photographer friends – one from Bishkek and the other from Singapore), and I take great pains to tell him how lucky he is to be living now, in the days of digital cameras and computer imaging software.  In the days of film – every shot cost … both in terms of time and money … and so, wherever possible, each photograph was carefully considered.  I have tried to tell him about the patience needed by Peter Fleming and Ella Maillard when taking photos in Kashgar on their trip from China to India … but it is a different world and he is more than willing to take the benefit of all the advantages that technology offers, living in the twenty first century.

On the whole, however, he does listen attentively – and seems eager to learn … especially to pick up any little tricks or hints about how to get a better shot … even if sometimes he appears a little dismissive of our “old fashioned” ways, attitudes and ideas.

When he shows people his pictures, (he’s downloaded a lot of them onto his phone and will pull it out at every opportunity to show someone), there is usually a round of applause or praise.  He has also put quite a few of them up on social media sites and some people have asked about some of them if it really is his photograph, or whether he has lifted them from the internet.  Apart from the ones where he actually appears … such as some of the shots riding his other great passion – a BMX bike … they are all his.   He is even responsible for some of the ones that he appears in – thanks to the time delay function.

He’s been anxious to show off his skills and, ever since he went to Victor’s exhibition “Micro Cherez Macro” at the Frunze Museum last year he has been asking me if it would be possible to organize one himself.

My first thought was something like, “He doesn’t really understand what it means … “.  It seemed to me that he thought it was simply a case that once he had chosen which photographs to include … everything else would fall into place … like magic.

I told him to go and do some research – find a place that could hold the exhibition, (and discover how much it would cost) … think about how they would be displayed, (in frames, or mounted on board and hung on a wall, or simply taped onto a stand – he seems to appreciated that there are different techniques … each with their own advantages and suitable for different venues).

My main concern was that he thinks it is so easy … his main concern seems to be that I was making it too difficult.

Anyway, he discovered that the cost hiring a hall would be too exorbitant … and I assured him that I wouldn’t be paying just to give a boost to his ego.

He suggested putting up an exhibition at the hotel and we looked at the possibility … but in the end that fell through as we were doing some renovations.   From my experience as a schoolteacher, I suggested that he ask at school if he could mount a display – for example in the home base classroom.  He dismissed the idea but when they organized a photograph competition, and he won first prize, he had second thoughts and was delighted when they agreed.  They even had a couple of stands he could use and place in the main foyer:

The exhibition

To be honest, I thought that the collection of photographs he chose to display was a bit eclectic … portraits, landscapes, night scenes, some fauna and flora.  There were actually quite a lot of other pictures that I felt he could have chosen … but passed over.  His excuse was that there wasn’t enough space.

I also thought that he could have grouped and presented them better … but, hey, it’s his first attempt and a good “learning experience”.

He called the exhibition “The world through my eyes”

He has also chose a nom de plume. (or nom de camera !) – a pseudonym for his “professional identity“: Maxim Claytor.

Anyway, here is a selection of some of the photos he chose.  To see a larger image, click on a thumbnail and then Prev or Next to navigate through them).

12►

I can’t say that I am looking forward to it.  In a year I’ll reach my eighth landmark birthday, (16 – Sweet sixteen, 18 – Coming of age, 21 – Coming of age II,  25 – A quarter of a century and leaving youthful things behind me, 30 – “A dangerous age”, 40 – Entering middle age, 50 – Half Century, 60 – Approaching retirement … Tatiana, my accountant is already talking about me applying for a pension – I think she might be trying to tell me something).

It’s also International Women’s Day.  Everyone here seems to think it is funny that I was born on International Womens’ Day and I have lost count of the number of times that I have heard the jibe about my mother deciding to give herself a present for the holiday.

There are some advantages to this arrangement, of course.  My birthday is a holiday and I can easily reply with another jibe about how nice it is for the whole country, (nay, the whole world!), to celebrate my birthday.

It’s a “feel good” time of the year.  Technically, Spring has just begun, (here, March 1st is considered the first day of Spring – back in the UK we would have to wait another three weeks), the flowers should be starting to bud, (although this year winter has decided to hang on and there is still snow around), the days are noticeably starting to get longer and there are are lots of gatherings with men making speeches about our “prekrasnaya zhenshin”, (beautiful ladies), and presenting them with little gifts, usually chocolates and flowers.

As “the boss”, I get to make one of those speeches, actually several – in different contexts.

Back in the West, although we don’t (or rather didn’t) commemorate International Women’s Day, we do have Mothers’ Day.  Children buy little presents, chocolates and flowers, which they present to their mothers.  Often they’ll take the opportunity, (or be directed by Dad), to relieve Mum of some of her chores.

It’s great, of course, for businesses selling greeting cards, chocolates and flowers – our local cake shop spent the weekend stocking up with cakes and boxes of chocolates.  The flower shops are crammed with colourful blooms, (and, of course, prices have gone up).

This year, Maxim decided that he wanted to give his mother something different.  Rather than the traditional box of chocolates and flowers and he decided to use his new found hobby of photography.  He asked for my cameras and trotted off home to photograph the family.

I have posted some examples of his photographs before (for example, here), and he’s been teaching himself about how to take photographs by talking with photographers and watching videos on you tube.  He’s also been dropping hints to me that I should get a new camera – with exchangeable lenses and which will give him him greater control over the images he can generate

Now it just so happens that modern digital cameras also have the facility to take movies.  He’s always been interested in the cinema, (at one time he even thought about a career in the movies), and has already made a couple of short films using the camera in this way, (for school and for a project that he has worked with).  So, when he got home he decided that rather than simply take photographs, he would make a short movie, instead.

He gathered the younger members of the family together and got them to rehearse and then act out several short scenes, finally bringing the individual clips to the computer and using using a video editor pasted them together, and added a soundtrack, eventually burning them onto a DVD to present to his mother this morning.

It may not be “professional”, (he’ll tell me that’s because the equipment not up to that task, and that if I had a better camera he could do better), but it was a good idea, original, and I think she will like it.

mama

]]> http://ianbek.kg/?feed=rss2&p=7430 0 http://ianbek.kg/?p=5848 http://ianbek.kg/?p=5848#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:00:19 +0000 ian http://ianbek.kg/?p=5848

namba.kg

Maxim, one of the “baseball kids” that I have written about before, has been quite creative recently.

For one thing, he has started calling himself Maxim Claytor.  This is not something I have encouraged – but he is using it as a sort of “pen name” when it comes to setting up an email account and his account on Namba - a sort of Kyrgyz social media site.

I can’t say I am that happy about it and, in fact, it can get confusing and a couple of days ago, one of my friends told me he had seen a “Maxim Claytor” on the site and asked if it was a relative.  However, I have seen a lot worse examples of nom de plume.

He has posted some photographs and a couple of videos of himself and his friends on their beloved BMX bikes on the site.

Both boys, Andrei and Maxim have set up their own blogs – but, to be honest, they are not particularly active in updating them.

They are both also keen on taking photographs and during the long summer holiday Maxim took lots, especially of his group of friends outside the Philharmonia practising their various antics on their bikes.  Like many kids on bikes, he seems to be a little accident prone and seems to “come a cropper”, falling off and on at least one occasion he hurt himself, although not seriously.   I wrote a postcard about that which included one of his films – a slideshow that he had put together to post on his blog.

Maxim has, however been busy trying to put together pictures, playbills and posters, for a short film he wants to make year which he calls “The Habits of Maxim” or “Maxim’s Habits”.  Of course, he will be both the star and the director and his beloved BMX will be his co-star.  Apparently he also wants to include some social messages, “Say no to drugs” and that sort of thing.  He was busy last year working with a social project giving presentations on a variety of topics in schools, youth clubs and children’s homes … hence this interest.

Well, he’s posted another short video which he shot over the summer and he asked me if I would post it on my site as well … so, here it is:

bmx 2011 г. Спорт Намба Видео

Saturday evening, and a knock on the door dragged me away from my computer.  There stood Maxim, an embarrassed grin, (or was that grimace), beamed from his face as he informed me: “I think I have broken my toe.”

He hopped into the office and sat down on the first available chair.  He couldn’t bear any weight on his left foot and was definitely in some pain.  “What happened?”, I asked … thinking that I could guess.  Sure enough, he had been on his beloved BMX, doing stunts with his friends in one of the squares in downtown Bishkek, when a girl ran in front his bike; he swerved to avoid her, lost his balance and fell, landing awkwardly.  At least, I suppose, he deserves praise for doing the valiant thing and trying to avoid an innocent bystander … even if she did happen to wander into his path … mind you, she probably had more right to be where she was than a seventeen year old youth on a bike doing jumps and racing along at breakneck speeds.

Anyway, he removed his trainers and his socks, and the big toe was considerably swollen, and no matter how much he tried to wiggle his toes, there was no movement.  I had a similar injury when I was a teenager, (but mine came in a game of Rugby), so I knew how painful it must have felt.  The question remained … what to do next?

There seemed to be no choice … a quick phone call to Mum, to find out where was best place to take him, (home or to a hospital to have his foot checked), hail a taxi and set off.  As it happens, Mum said “Let’s have a look at it first,” so we set off to his home on the outskirts of town.  I thought I would then be free to return home, but somehow I got persuaded to accompany Maxim and Genia, his older brother, to the hospital.

In a way, I am glad that I went.  It was an interesting experience, not unlike attending the A&E, (Accident and Emergency), department at the local hospital after an accident or getting hurt in a rugby game.  There were some differences, however.  Back home, there would have been a mass of people hanging around, especially on a Saturday evening.  Here, there were just three patients in the clinic when we arrive, counting us.  It’s true that a lot more people arrived in the hour and a half while we were there, and there would be a lot as the evening wore on, (it was a Saturday night, after all), but it still seemed very quiet and peaceful.  We were well and truly outnumbered by the medical staff, doctors, nurses and orderlies.  There were also lots of other people hanging around, but they looked like visitors who had come to see someone on one of the wards.

After registration, where they looked rather grave at Maxim’s the enlarged big toe and marked with an “X”, it was off to the X-Ray department. This seemed to be a lot busier than anywhere else with people walking up all through our wait for the negative to be developed.  Then, back to the reception where they gave us the good news: the toe wasn’t broken.  There was, however, a fracture and it needed to be put in plaster, which he would have to wear for ten days.  “It’s a good job you came today,” they said, “because if you had left it until tomorrow, we would have told you to leave the cast on for twenty days, and not just ten.”

There was a queue for the attention of the nurse that dressed the leg, so Genia and I went outside for a short walk.  When we came back, Genia burst into hysterics … for a toe that wasn’t even broken, Maxim was sporting a leg with plaster all up the shin.

When we set out, I had warned Maxim that we would probably spend a lot of time sitting around, waiting, and would probably be something like three hours. As I said, however, even though we spent most of the time sitting, waiting, we were there for just over an hour and a half.

He was told not walk, which would mean putting weight on the plaster, so he hopped to the taxi for the short ride home …  and the knowledge that he has ten days of sitting at home without his beloved BMX.

Fortunately, however, he is not exactly housebound.  As it happens, Dyed Genia, (one of my neighbours), took pity on him when he saw Maxim hopping and said, “Wait here,” as he disappeared into his flat.  Not sure what to expect, we waited as instructed and were amazed when he emerged a few minutes later with … a pair of crutches.  Dyed Genia is one those people who, stores things away … “just in case” they might be useful one day … well, this time it seems his squirrel like attribute proved to be very apt.

Here’s a short clip  which Maxim prepared in order to upload to his own blog, featuring himself and some of friends at a number of events … :

.Movie_0002

The other day I was showing the kids the photos of our trip to Ala Archa and Alamedin, and the video that Alicia, Philippa and Sebastian shot and they asked me if it was possible to create a website for them so that they could upload posts about things that interest them.

I know from my days as a teacher of IT that it’s not that simple … and knowing Maxim and Andrei, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out … would they get bored quickly and lose interest, for example … but I thought why not.

Kyrgyzstan has quite a high level of penetration when it comes to internet usage, when you consider that few schools have computers yet alone internet access, and although people may have computers in their offices, not that many have them at home … the kids don’t, for example,  and they don’t have a telephone.  Still, they are at that sort of age when an interest in technology is at its highest and I know that many teenagers in the west spend hours in front of Facebook, MySpace and similar sites.

My nephew, for example, is about the same age and he is nearly always on Facebook, although his younger brother, doesn’t seem at all interested as far as I can tell.  I have also shown the kids some of my nephew’s video clips where he is playing the guitar and some YouTube clips of BMX bikers doing tricks.  I suppose that in doing so I have created a rod for my own back.

Anyway, I agreed to help them.  At first, I thought about setting up a Facebook page for each of them, (or on one of the Russian equivalents),  but I wasn’t sure if their friends would also have pages and, anyway, it might be better for them to experiment and make mistakes from which they could learn before doing something on one of those sites.  So, I looked for a blog host which would be free and allow them to “have a go” and then, if they are serious and want to go further we can look at other alternatives and perhaps a course that they could attend.

Maxim was the most insistent, so we started with him … but Andrei is already pressing me to help him set up a page.  I asked what Maxim wanted to post entries about … Films, Biking – his beloved BMX, pictures – artwork that he likes, and … well anything that takes his fancy.

As I happen to know wordpress quite well, I decided eventually on setting up a free page on wordpress.com.  It only took a few minutes to register and then I showed how to set up a post … we talked about categories and tags – but I don’t think he took it all in.  He was too impatient … it reminded me of the phrase in the song: “I want it all and I want it now!” … No, that should be “I want it all, and I want it NOW !!!!”

I also showed him how to post pictures, which I think went fairly well because he spent a lot of time doing just that – posting pictures … he needs to concentrate more on his layout, and I’ll to sit down and talk to him about that, but once the initial burst of enthusiasm has worn itself out and he is ready to sit, listen and learn.

He’s not particularly good at typing so there isn’t much text yet, but I hope that will come.

I also hope that, if his enthusiasm doesn’t wane, that he might start posting some of his drawings.  He’s not a brilliant artist, but he isn’t bad and the idea of being able to show them off to a wider audience should help his motivation.

He also wants to put up some short video clips, (trailers for films that he likes or is waiting to see, or video of him and his mates on their BMXs).  Unfortunately, however, wordpress doesn’t allow this as part of the free service, so in order to post videos you have to pay, so that will have to wait for a while.  I think we can embed some video from You Tube, so I suppose we are going to have to create an account for him there as well so that he can post his clips of jumping through the air on his bike.

Now I have to sit down with Andrei and show him how to set up a blog.  His will probably de dedicated to music … and his numerous girlfriends.

Once they’ve the hang of things, then, (if they are still keen), we’ll see about improving their skills – perhaps signing up for a course or two – and perhaps developing further sites.  Who knows, if they take to it, then maybe it will be a useful way of spending their time and they might even decide to follow it as a career – their older brother already works in computers … but that’s all in the future.

For anyone who is interested, Maxim’s blog is at www.stariyshkola.wordpress.com

A soviet poster celebrating the Defenders of the Fatherland

Maxim spent the back end of last week busily scouring the internet for inspiration.

For homework, one of his teachers at school had given him the task of drawing a poster, (a gazeta), to commemorate February 23rd, Dehn zashitnika Otechestva, (Defenders of the Fatherland Day – otherwise known as Army Day or Men’s Day).

February 23rd used to be designated as “Army and Navy Day” in the Soviet Union. The holiday was declared as the “Birthday of the Red Army” in 1942 – and was supposed to have commemorated either (depending upon the source):an occasion in 1918 when rallies in support of the Bolshevik led Red Army took place across Russia …

A victory by the Bolshevik led Red Army over German troops near the cities of Narva (now in Estonia) in 1918, during the civil war, orthe first mass draft of young men (described by some commentators as “volunteers”) into its ranks in Moscow and Pertrograd.

It is sometimes called, “Men’s Day”- and is seen as the equivalent of March 8th, (International Women’s Day).

He found a number of images, (including a Soviet Army insignia, a picture of a soldier and a pistol), which he copied onto the sheet of A2 card that he had been given, and several jingoistic verses extolling patriotism or toasts given on that day which he printed out on the printer and duly stuck onto the card.  The teacher wanted any text to be printed because, he said, people often had difficulty reading handwriting and, anyway, it looked more presentable.

Fortunately, Maxim is quite good at drawing, or at least copying drawings, so the finished product was actually quiet presentable and has found its way towards display in a prominent position in the school.

This year, the holiday has a little more significance and poignancy for Maxim, as he is now 16, (approaching 17), and has had to register with the local Voencomat – the Military Commissariat, essentially the military registration and enlistment office.

Here, military service is compulsory.  When children become 16 they have to register with the Military Commissariat, (although only boys are conscripted into the Army, for a two year term).  The draft is delayed whilst they are finishing school, and again if they enter higher or further education, so most are not actually drafted until the October when they are 18 and have left school.  I remember on one occasion driving past a military post one October and seeing a whole host of young people standing around outside and my driver told me that they were new recruits waiting for the bus to take them to camp.

In theory, because military service is, (technically at least), compulsory the military of the country should reflect the demographics of the general population.  It was a surprise, therefore when during last year’s events in the South, it was revealed that the Kyrgyz Army comprises almost entirely of ethnic Kyrgyz, with very few Uzbeks or representatives of other nationalities.  This was probably the cause of much of the criticism levied against the army for alleged “bias” shown to the different communities.

In fact, not everyone is called upon to complete a term of military service

Those who go on to college, for example, don’t have to serve their two year tenure if they attend the special military training classes organized in their educational institution – a sort of Officer Training Corps, (OTC).  Those in the medical academy, for example, have a special course which they all follow, and another acquaintance went to classes as an “artilleryman”.

Then there are some people who are excused service in the Army, (such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, disabled or the only son – especially when there is no father), who undertake what is called “Alternative Service”.  They still have to turn up to the recruitment office on occasion and perform some tasks, usually, (as I understand it) menial tasks, and then contribute a portion of their salary for a certain period.  There is come controversy about this as it is sometimes claimed that only the rich can afford this option and so those who serve come from the poorer families who cannot afford to avail themselves of this option.

There were suggestions a few years ago that Kyrgyzstan should stop conscription and create a small “professional army” recruited on a “voluntary” basis in the same way as many Western armies are recruited.  Indeed, one of the questions which is quite often put to me concerns military service in the UK.  I grew up just at the period when the UK ceased compulsory conscription, so I didn’t have to serve.  Only one of my school friends went into the army as a volunteer.  Most people, (young people that is, and their parents), seem to like the idea of a professional army of volunteers rather than compulsory conscription, but there are those, (particularly of the older generation), who do see that military service is a good thing and helps to make a “man” of their sons.

Some of the military hierarchy, however, is not too keen on the suggestion.  They see military service as both promoting national pride as well as creating a body of available trained personnel that can be called upon in time of crisis.

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After Independence in 1991, the Defenders of the Fatherland Day holiday was dropped in Kyrgyzstan, but it was reintroduced in 2002 … the rationale being, (according to one news source – Reuters), that the Kyrgyz people had reason to be grateful to the Bolsheviks for ending the genocidal policy which the Tsarist regime had embarked upon, following the events of 1916.

There are sometimes parades organized to commemorate the day, (one year the celebrations even included a Ballroom Dancing competition), however the day is usually a low-key event.  Some schools organize special events, such as the poster competition that Maxim took part in, or concerts where the children sing patriotic songs and enact certain events from history.

As a public holiday, of course, it is a day off work for most people, although many shops and cafes, etc.,  are still open for business, and the previous working day is one hour shorter.

As the holiday is seen as “Men’s Day”, it is usual to congratulate men on the holiday.   Here in the office, for example, all the female staff gathered together and held a little celebration, cake, fruit juice and a small present of toiletries, to “congratulate” their male colleagues on the holiday.

I have been asked some questions about the “Baseball Kids”, so I thought I had better spend a little time explaining the situation.

I have known them for about four years now … Although they live on the outskirts of town, some of them used to hang around the city center, (around Beta Stores, the Russia Cinema and the Philharmonia), where a large number of young people gather.  These are all within one block of the office, so we saw them quite frequently in the neighbourhood.

They were always well dressed and polite.  Maxim, who is sometimes a bit of a typical rebellious teenager, always spoke softly in a high pitched voice and I once asked him if he had a normal voice to which he responded loudly in a much deeper voice, “Yes, of course!”

Once I saw them and they said that they were going home from the Church, and asked if they could use the telephone.  Normally we would have said no, but for some reason, (probably because it was late), we agreed.

To be honest, we weren’t sure what to make of them … but from a number of conversations we learned a little about them and their situation.  When they told me that there were ten children in the family I was well and truly gobsmacked.  In the days of the Soviet Union, that would have earned mother the title of Matt Geroina – a Hero Mother of the Soviet Union.  In the con temporary system of awards in Kyrgyzstan, the equivalent would be Ene Danke – Honourable Mother of the Kyrgyz Republic.

They rattled the list off for me: Roman, Genia, Inna, Katya, Julia, Maxim, Andrei, Sveta, Edik and Alicia.  Then, of course, there is Mum.  Dad’s disappeared, and they don’t know where he is … apparently, he just walked out one day and never came back.

They didn’t all live together – for example, Roman, the oldest, is in his twenties, is now married and has a family of his own, but at that time there were nine of them living in a small house on the outskirts of the city.  As I understood it, it was a small house, with just two rooms

Because I knew that they had been at church, I asked one of our staff who goes regularly to make enquiries about the family.  Nobody seemed to know anything about them.  As a result, I asked a couple of other staff to go and see if they could find the house.  At the time we wondered if they were telling the truth – and it turned out that they were.

The house was small, (smaller than my two room apartment and smaller than the office), but compact clean and well kept.  There was a small kitchen area, but not enough room to “swing a cat”, (although I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do so!), no bathroom and only an outside toilet.  Some of the older children had found work, but like most large families they struggled to survive but they were all lively and friendly.  There had been some problems over school, but three of them were now attending regularly and the youngest were about to start.

That’s really how it all started, almost four years ago.

We, sort of, “adopted” the family.  I went and watched them play baseball, for example, and we took them on a number of trips – to Issyk Kul, to Naryn, to a golf tournament, the Sabantui festival, to a Ski resort and to play ten pin bowling.

One evening, earlier this year, the ceiling fell in on three of the girls in the house and it was in bad need of repair.  Like most house repairs, once it got underway it became obvious that it was going to be a much bigger job. I suggested that we take the opportunity to enlarge the kitchen, and install a shower and inside toilet.

Lots of people here seem to assume that they are my children … once, they even got stopped by the police who demanded to see their passports and asked about their visas.  I take a keen interest in how they are getting on at school – I suppose that is out of a professional interest, having been a schoolteacher.  I can help them with their Maths homework, but others have to help them with other subjects – especially Russian and Kyrgyz.

Back in January, “Siberian air gripped Britain” as unusual High Pressure systems massed over the Atlantic from November 2009 onwards, blocking the customary Westerly winds that would normally bring mild weather to Western Europe.  The result was that they were replaced by Easterly winds which brought with them uncharacteristically harsh weather conditions that are normally associated with the more remote regions of the Russian Federation.

Well, it seems as if the same is happening now.

The chaos brought on by severe weather conditions seems to have brought whole sections of the country, and other parts of Northern Europe, to a standstill.  I particularly liked the satellite picture featured in the Daily Telegraph which seems to show the snow in all its glory: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8176958/Brrritain-snow-causes-travel-chaos-in-the-UK-as-the-cold-snap-continues.html

The internet is a wonderful instrument for helping people to keep in touch and up to date about what is happening with their far flung friends and relatives around the world.  I see comments on Facebook and Twitter, for example, from people such as: “No point getting out of bed, we’re snowed in, no school and no way of getting out of the village”.  On the other hand, one person wrote ”beautiful morning; clear sky and mild wind”, but as he’s in Japan I suppose he’s got an excuse, but I am not sure about the person asked “is everyone happy now that there’s a tiiiiiny bit of snow?”.  Do I sense a touch of sarcasm?

There was certainly some sarcasm in the “cable” released on Wikileaks from the American ambassador in  Bishkek about a lunch hosted by the British embassy for Prince Andrew in 2008, where he had the chance to meet with some ex-pat businessmen to get a feel for the business climate here in Kyrgyzstan.  I am not sure that sarcasm is the right word, but the cable seemed to dripping with irony, mockery, derision, scorn, disdain and cynicism – and in my thesaurus those are all listed as synonyms for sarcasm.  For anyone who escaped the furore over the leak of official documents, this cable was one of two authored by the Ambassador about meetings that she had attended that you can find on the Wikileaks site.  In this particular one she described some of the Prince’s apparently “off the cuff” remarks, the obsequious attitude of “his mother’s subjects”, an “expletive deleted” and some harsh words about the French as well as some choice comments about investigations into corruption.  As far as I am aware, although there has been some considerable comment in the press on the affair, he has managed to keep a fairly low profile following the revelations.  I took a particular interest in this cable because, as it happens, as May Boyce used to say “… I was there!”  In fact, I happened to be sitting next to the Ambassador during the meal.  A few people, (including a journalist from a British broadsheet), have asked for my reactions to the leak.  I wouldn’t say, as some people apparently have, that it represents a conversation that never happened, as it does tally in certain respects with what I remember of the event.  It also includes things that passed me by completely.  (Remember she was writing her account almost immediately after it occurred, whereas I am having to rely on recollections of something that took place two years ago.)  One thing that did strike me about her account, however, was that it seemed to reveal more about her and her attitudes than it did about the Prince, or any of the other participants.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this controversy, at least to me, was to compare the different angles that were picked up and emphasized by the reporters for different papers.  One British newspaper, for example, seemed to accept everything in the cable as if it was “gospel” and was full of indignation – as one tweet put it, “The scary part is that media presents foregone conclusions as facts, be it in KG or UK or US.” – but maybe that is because the Prince apparently criticized reporters from that paper.  On the other hand, another chose to concentrate on the Prince’s “sense of humour” and how she had “totally missed the point”.  The New York Times gave the Prince what I thought was perhaps the most sympathetic treatment.

All that, of course, is “old news”.  Two years have passed since Prince Andrew’s visit and the situation here in Kyrgyzstan has changed somewhat – at least in certain respects.

During the election, there were those who said that nothing would change: that politicians are only interested in furthering their own interests; that election promises are easily given in order to gain votes – and just as easily reneged on once actually in office (and the recent experience of British students at the hands of the Liberal Democrats would seem to support this point of view); that tribal instincts are too inbred into the national persona … and so on.  Indeed, there are comments from various sources that suggest this is a fairly widely held point of view … and that there might be something in that.

There are, however, signs that things have changed.

We thought that we finally had a new government – well, it wasn’t to be.  We had a coalition agreement uniting three parties and the Parliament met to formalize the arrangement.  There was a lot of argument but when it came to the vote to appoint the Toroga, (the speaker), Omurbek Tekebayev, the only candidate for the post, needed to muster a majority of 61 votes to be confirmed in office and, as the coalition are supposed to have 67 members, (out of the total of 120), the result should have been a foregone conclusion.  In the end, however, he managed to gather just 58 votes – with 59 votes cast against him – and so he wasn’t elected.  It’s true that some people weren’t present for the vote, from both sides – but obviously more from the coalition, or else there were defections.  Oddly enough, it looks as if some of those were members of his own party that either abstained or voted against him, but who know – it was, after all, a secret vote.

Who would have predicted such a turn of events in the Kyrgyzstan of a few years ago?  Mind you, it’s how Akaev came to power in the first place – the compromise candidate to break a deadlock.

Hilary Clinton commented during her visit, following the OSCE summit in Astana, praising the “incredible resilience of the Kyrgyz people on the way to democracy”: “you don’t often see commitment to constitutional reform and democratic elections” after events like April’s revolution.  The trouble is, I am not sure there is commitment to constitutional reform – two of the five parties in elected parliament, and the one that only just missed out, are opposed to the concept of a “parliamentary democracy” for Kyrgyzstan and even campaigned on a platform of a return to a Presidential Executive.

Anyway, the debate in the parliament was, apparently, quite heated – with swearing and, according to one news report at least, almost breaking out into a fight.  But, on the other hand, as one commentator put it: “The only good thing is that all this bickering is confined to the JK building. I hope it will stay that way for many, many years to come.”

As a result of all the maneuvering, Almazbek Atanbaev, the designated leader of the coalition, has asked Roza Otunbaeva to pass the mandate for forming a coalition to someone else.  The irony is that she already announced that if he were to fail then she would ask Ata Meken to take up the task … which is led by none other than Omurbek Tekebaev.  How he is going to be able to arrange a coalition given these events is anyone’s guess.  She’s been having consultations and the leaders have been holding “conversations”.  One of the party leaders emerged from the meeting with the President and told the assembled press corps, “She asked for suggestions and I told her it was her job”, (to be fair those are my words – not his, but that seems to be basically what he said according to the press report … He did, however express some sympathy for her situation saying, “This is uneasy task for her” – and those are his words as reported in the press).  Another party leader’s comment on his discussions with one of his counterparts was, “I was just sitting and having coffee.”   Whoever’s given the job at the President’s Ala Archa residence today, has got a difficult task ahead of him, and if he fails, (which is not impossible), then according to the constitution all is not lost because the president, herself, can try to appoint a coalition.  If even she can’t do it, then it’s back to the hustings – more elections and more political uncertainty for Kyrgyzstan.

The other “big news” this week has been a bomb explosion outside the Sports Palace where the trial of those accused of the deaths during the events of April 7th was being held.  Last week I mentioned the breaking news that nine “terrorists” had been apprehended who were planning a number of outrages throughout the country.  Well, some more have been caught, and some killed in a shootout in Osh.  The bomb on Tuesday seems to have been one of those planned outrages, (although there are different possible scenarios), and has put everyone on their toes looking for suspicious people and packages.

Funnily enough, I was at the AGM of the International Business Council, (IBC), in the Hyatt on Monday, (the day before the explosion), and was talking to one of the other long standing ex-pats based here in Bishkek –he’s an American and has been here a few months longer than I have and we were exchanging observations about how things have changed in that time and the latest developments – and we discussed that very topic.  I was reelected to the management board of the IBC for another two year term, so that’s another thing that hasn’t changed, but, on the other hand there are some new members and so new blood and, hopefully, we will have some new ideas and vitality.

On a more personal note, I’ve made some changes to ianbek.kg – I’m still in the process of transferring all the old postcards, (not just the weekly “newsletter”), but there is a link to where we’ve archived the old site so they are still available.

Another change is that the kids have gone back to school – well, almost.  I still can’t get used to the long summer holidays they enjoy over here: three months.  Well, school started as usual on September 1st, and the first half term went more or less according to plan.  A couple of days before they were due to resume, however, there was a phone call to say that the school would remain closed after the half-term holiday because there was a problem with the heating system.  After an extra two weeks they got the call to say that classes would begin again this week … but the problems have persisted and they’ve been sent home again.

In a way, it seemed odd because last weekend when I went up to Naryn, (reputedly the coldest city in Kyrgyzstan where a temperature of minus 40 has been recorded in the past), the weather was fine.  During the day, when the sun was shining, it was actually quite warm, although the night was distinctly chilly.  There was some snow on the Dolon Pass, (at 3025m asl), and some small patches on the ground in Naryn itself. I managed to catch a chill, but Kyrgyz cognac and an early night saw to that, and on Monday I was full of beans and back behind my desk as usual.  However, we are promised two days of snow with temperatures falling well below zero.  The snow duly arrived on the arrived on the appointed day, yesterday, and the temperature is currently -13C … so I feel for what my fellow Brits are experiencing back home at the moment.

Andrei is worried that schools may close again because of bomb threats – there has been a telephone warning to one school already following Tuesday’s explosion, but it seems that the weather is going to prove to be a greater disruption than any terrorist threat.

And Finally … on a totally different note, you may be aware that I am a fan of “trivia”.  As I result I was very sorry to miss the first of the Quiz Evenings being organized by one of my colleagues on the IBC board … I was in a meeting that overran, which is, unfortunately, quite a common occurrence here.  Anyway, during the week I came across an interesting trivia question, and I posed it over dinner last night when the quiz master from the next round was present,  It’s part of a competition organized by the Travel magazine Wanderlust, and has stumped a lot of people – and stumped me: Can you name five countries whose name begins and ends with the same letter – but excluding the letter A, (Albania, Algeria, America – I presume that counts, Andorra, Angola… that’s five already, without Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia and Austria …and yes, I did get most of those without looking them up!) and Tibet?  (That’s presumably to stop repercussions from the People’s Republic of China – they get upset when people start calling Tibet a country!)  Anyway, there are a couple of other stipulations: the names must be in English – so Eire doesn’t count … sorry, John – and they have to be real names, not imaginary ones.  Apparently, there are six that fit the bill, but you only have to find five … I confess that, up until last night, I could only get three – and I wasn’t too happy with any of them – for example, one is Czech Republic … but round the dinner table our collective efforts found another two.  I am still trying to work out what the sixth might possibly be.

I was quite impressed that they were addressing the issue in school.

When I first came here, there was a general impression that there was a “stork” like attitude towards AIDS – stick the head in the sand and pretend that it isn’t there – maybe the problem will go away.  Here was a sign that the issue was being addressed.

In a way, it reminded me of the situation back in Britain in the 1980’s.

I sometimes say that remember a world without AIDS, but actually, that not true … genetic research seems to suggest that AIDS originated somewhere in Africa in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, and HIV, (the Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which ultimately causes AIDS by attacking white blood cells, seems to have been identified in humans sometime around the 1930’s, although it wasn’t actually “recognized” or “discovered” until the 1980’s. AIDS is not actually a single disease but a variety of diseases and is technically referred to as a “syndrome”, hence the name: AIDS – the Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome.

It became a worldwide pandemic and by 2009 there were an estimate 60 million people infected and the virus and AIDS  was blamed for something like 27 million deaths and 14 million orphaned children – mostly in Africa.  I was shocked to learn that, in 2007, something like a third of cases were accounted for by just three countries – 17% were in South Africa, 8% in Nigeria and 7% in India.

There are treatments which help to alleviate the diseases, but as yet no cure or vaccination against the virus.

I also remember the public reaction when the epidemic became newsworthy and started to hit the headlines … indeed, there was a lot of hype and hysteria about AIDS and HIV in the press … before the days of retro viruses and other “treatments”.

I was still teaching in school at the time and we were tasked with raising the issue of AIDS awareness with children the same way that it was, apparently, with Maxim and his class.  For example, back in the UK, I took my fair share of School Assemblies and one year my turn to take Assembly fell on December 1st – so I had a ready made theme: World AIDS Day.  I told them about three of my friends from my student days.  There were lots of statistics about the number of people infected and much, much comment about how the “disease” was “incurable.”  After having “introduced” my friends, with a few interesting facts, I dropped in the fact that each of them were infected with the virus.  I pointed out that every one of those statistics were more than just a “number”, they were a person with family and friends.  It was easy to dismiss them as numbers until you “knew” someone who was affected.  Then you could put the story into context, give it a scale and see the real human aspect.  Next time they saw the a news story about AIDS which quoted statistics about the number of people infected with HIV they could “borrow” one of my friends … to help them think about what the story actually meant to those living with it.

In fact, there is a fair amount of attention being paid to the issue in Kyrgyzstan.  Although there are different statistics, officially there are supposed to be just over 3000 people infected with HIV in the republic, that’s a little under 0.1% of the population – which seems pretty insignificant when compared to the number of infected people globally, or even in some individual countries where it runs into the millions.  Of course, it’s not insignificant to those who are infected, the families and friends.  It seems that 70% of those infected in Kyrgyzstan are drug users – and mainly in the south of the country – although it has also been identified as a particularly important issue amongst migrant workers.

Several international donor organizations fund projects – spreading anti-AIDS information though seminars and campaigns in the media, as well as assisting in the delivery of treatment and reforming the blood transfusion service.  That latter is quite important because there was a scandal in 2008 when something like seventy babies were infected with HIV – several health workers were imprisoned for infecting the children, as a result of negligence.  The case caused considerable concern throughout the country about conditions, particularly the state of hygiene, in hospitals, and the quality of medical personnel.

The local Medical Academy, which trains future doctors, usually holds a conference/seminar on the topic to commemorate the day, and this year is no exception.

There are a number of NGO’s, (Non-government organizations), trying to spread information about the disease and working with those who are affected.  For example, one charity called “Stay Alive”, was established by people infected with HIV-AIDS and some of their relatives, who have felt the strength of discrimination in society. It has organized a variety of activities and is establishing a Drop-in Centre.  There are also a number of activities organized amongst the gay community and in the few gay clubs by local groups – often sponsored by international donors.

They do have AIDS testing here and I had to undergo a test in order to obtain my residence permit.  It was quick and efficient, but I wasn’t too impressed with the counseling service.  Although it is a requirement, they just looked at me and so “Oh, you need it for a visa … sign here”.  I understand, however, that when locals are tested, it is not treated as just a formality.

As it happens, on Tuesday Maxim came and told me that he had made a mistake – the poster that he had to draw was supposed to be “protiv Narkotomi” – “Against Drugs”.  It struck me as a pity that the opportunity provided by World AIDS Day wasn’t being exploited in order to address the issue in the school, but the issue of drug abuse is also important, and as the majority of those infected in the country are intravenous drug users, maybe this is just the “hook” for raising the subject and “killing two birds with one stone.”

Anyway, for the record, there was another internet search and he eventually found three pictures, (including a fairly dramatic graphic depicting a syringe piecing a body through the heart), which he used as the basis for his particular contributions.