Economics and the Heart of the Matter 2 (Why Shopkeepers are Mean)

On of the things in Kazakhstan that has really bothered me has been their lack of customer service. I am accustomed to American where “the customer is always right” and “everyone should be greeted with a smile.” Here, you are more often treated as an irritant and unanswered questions by idle clerks make you assume they don’t even want you shopping there. At one particular store here (a large Wal-Martesk creation) I enter planning to spend a large sum usually for work, and find myself not only dismissed, but treated with suspicion while dozens of store employees and store security wander about. They treat me not as if I come to spend, but to steal! I couldn’t understand why, in this society where jobs and income is so precious, people would be so lazy and rude…

Until I read an interesting article… The article explained that in Soviet times, there was never enough. People stood in long lines for little goods and the shopkeepers where often the brunt of their anger over lack. Shopkeepers dealt with theft, harassment, vile accusations, and sometimes even violence. And the Soviet Union fell not so long ago. It happened when I was still in grade school, but in terms of a changed mentality and changed nation, it could have been just yesterday. Understanding their history and knowing that change takes time has helped me to better accept the world of commerce here. Although, I don’t plan on going back to that one shop!

And, as a disclaimer, I should add that plenty of the small shops have the kindest shopkeepers. They are more than happy to help and are especially excited because I am an American and am learning Kazakh!

Tulip Hill (onay lipay tuay)

Sara, Ken, and I recently drove up to what is called Tulip Hill for its abundance of...tulips! Although we were greated by hundreds of flowers in huge fields, there were no tulips to be seen, not a one! We think this is because of the strange heat-freeze-heat pattern of earlier this spring. Here are a few shots.

Smoking Seminar

About a month ago I wrote a blog about the problems we have among older boys with smoking. They just don’t take any of our cautions seriously. It really is the age where cancer and lung disease seem really far away and unlikely. However, as part of the Youth Impact program, Olya and Kiikzhan gave a seminar on smoking to the boys at Savva last month. Unfortunately some of those that needed it most, skipped out or were so bad they were kicked out. They said they have the info on what smoking does, they just lack is the motivation to quit. As part of the seminar Olya and Kiikzhan reviewed the ways to quit or just cut back and encouraged them to work together to have accountability.

Men's Day (yes, another holiday!)

Men are great! Well, at least for one day almost everyone in Kazakhstan will tell you so! Men’s Day (along with Women’s Day) are international holidays although not celebrated in the US. For the men at the office we had a special surprise at a new little place in town… virtual car racing. Sadly, a few of the night security guys couldn’t make it… so I had to race. Oh, it was suffering to come in second so many times. Not because I beat out so many other people, but only because I didn’t come in first! Then we had a special dinner for them called “bulldog.” Yup, that’s what we call it. But don’t worry, it’s not really dog! It’s a Korean meat dish called something like “buldoggi” but we like the cheap thrill of pretending its bulldog!

At the orphanages we gave watches to all the boys. They were really excited about them. I made a point to ask them later the time and with a huge smile they would check their new watches and let me know! Sunday we took some of the boys to the park for rides and then for their own surprise virtual car racing! I spent most of the afternoon steering the car for the tinniest boy….he just couldn’t get the gas, break, and steering to all go together! I wish I could import Men’s and Women’s Day to the US, it’s such a cool holiday.

VICTORY!!!

May 9th is another holiday here in KZ (I’m loving the holidays). It’s Victory Day (from WWII). And WOW, people here know how to celebrate. The square was packed and we saw tons of troops marching around. I had planned to go with my whole host family, but ended up with my 13 year old host cousin. He was great cause to see and get pictures you had to climb a tree or a fence or another pedestrian! After the square we headed to the park and I’ve sworn (but will probably break this promis) that I will never go to the square on a holiday again. I have never been so SQUISHED in my life! It was as if the earth was on fire and the line to the Ferris wheel was the only exit from the planet. Babies were crying, women were screaming, men were pushing, and my host cousin had to shove me from the outside to keep me from getting pushed out of line completely. Oy! After the rides and the ice cream and buying gifts for the other kids in the family, I very happily took a nap in the afternoon! Hurrah for Victory Day!

Soccer is the BEST sport in the world.

It’s my blog so I can say that! Besides the fact that it’s true! Some of the girls from the orphanages we work play for city or regional teams. A few hope to eventually make the national team. Girls here aren’t so often sports oriented so when the orphanages enable the girls who are athletic, they can excel. On the other hand, there’s such a large pool of hopeful boys that they rarely get the opportunity to play on larger teams. However, we have been sponsoring several local boys to take Tae Kwon Doe and recently sent 4 children (one girl and three boys) to a national competition. They did well and came back to show us their medal and certificates.

The city of Taraz also recently held a huge evening sports concert celebrating althletes all over. The ceremony included an olympic torch (the flame recently came through Kazakhstan on it's way to China), 100 ballroom dancing couples, a lot of life sized puppet characters, and athletes from all over. We went to see some of the soccer & Tae Kwon Doe kids marching. It was well worth it to see the spectacular event that was actually put on by a friend of ours. Congratulations Nadeshda!

As fun as it was, I think there was a greater purpose than we planned. Two brothers had just come to the orphanage that day. After some wrangling with their caretaker, they were able to come too. They were so hesitant and cautious at first, but slowly they opened up and were clamouring for ice cream, chips, and a chance to take photos with our cameras along with all the other boys. They are in the picture below with me. I can only imagine that having such a special event their first day helped to ease the pain of abandonement.

English Teachers Needed

The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev has a new emphasis on learning English and Interlink has been asked by the Oblast (regional) Educational Department to help them find teachers to come for a year starting in September to teach English in the local schools. Heather Lewis who works here at Interlink in an English teacher training program, has sent out many inquiries to organizations she's worked with and is hoping to find some excellent teachers. The encouraging aspect of this is that the government will pay all of the expenses to bring teachers here and give a pretty substantial salary and living allowance. If anyone is interested in seeking such an opportunity, they can write Heather directly at hjlewis@epebbles.net.

Chu on this...

“My boys.” A lot of you have heard my stories from past years about “my boys.” How I came to KZ in 2005 and had 9 boys in my group, age 14 at the time. You’ve heard some of their stories and how much they are a part of my heart. You may also know they left the orphanage to live about 4 hours from me at a Polytechnic institue in a drug ridden city called Chu.

On Wednesday, we went to Chu. And I say those words and wish you could see my ear splitting smile or know the way my soul leaps up with joy. We spend a few hours with the 17 boys from the orphanage who lived at the tech school. Of my 9 boys, only 5 were there. We checked out their rooms, played some games, gave out gifts, but the best part of all was just seeing them, being with them. Boys becoming men aren’t much for emotion and it was all I could do to offer a handshake when I wanted to throw my arms around them and embrace them as beloved sons! But my heart rejoiced to watch them come to walk beside me, to try and hide smiles that couldn’t be hidden, and to hear their requests for us to come again…soon!

In reality their living conditions aren’t as bad as I expected, but the boys now 16-19 seem more broken then ever, physically dirty and heart worn. Four of “my boys” have run away. One I expected, having talked to him last summer and knowing he would likely return to the village where his family was. The other three came as a surprise. Two have sisters at one orphanage so I’ll go back and try to track them that way. Another is working in a city we often visit so I’ll try to find him. Please pray that I might be able to reconnect with these boys who are “missing.”

It became very clear to us in our time there that the boys have shelter, food, schooling and some limited options to work (on the railroad). What they needed was love, family, emotional support and care. They need to know that someone loves them, that someone cares. You could see that hunger in their eyes… soul hunger. They (and all of us) long to know that we are known and deeply loved, that we are chosen and wanted, and that we matter to someone somewhere. We came with things, but we offered ourselves and their eyes were light because of it. I gave letters of encouragement out along with my gifts and wished I had written a hundred more. Maybe I will for next time…

We are thinking of ways to adjust our already full schedule for a monthly visit, or at least every couple of months. I hope to see them maybe two more times before my year is up. I am just incredibly thankful to have seen them. Yes, we went to Chu!

Just to show how little I know…and so you can get a really good laugh!

I recently spent the weekend in the village with my coworker and friend Moldir and learned quite a lot!

LESSON ONE: Never go to the village and expect to return in a day! They assumed I was coming for 3 days….I thought I’d be there a few hours! I compromised and stayed for two and left assuring them I would bring my toothbrush and a change of clothes next time.

LESSON TWO: Bring work clothes. In preparation of meeting a lot of new people I wore one of my best outfits. Playing with calves, sheep, cows, and village children isn’t all that it can be when one has to worry about fancy trousers and delicate shoes! Oy!

LESSON THREE: LAUGH AT YOURSELF, heartily!!! After offering to help the family with their daily chors for the 10th time, Moldir’s mother finally said perhaps I’d want to churn some milk. She was surprised when I accepted her offer, but I was thrilled to finally be of some use instead of standing around. And though I’d spend some childhood days at a relative’s dairy farm, I’d never made butter before and was excited. As I churned the family came through, smiling but saying that I didn’t really need to churn anymore. But I was so excited to help I kept at it for a good half hour. Finally, bewildered at the failure of butter to appear, I asked Moldir when I could expect it. Her response? “My mother already churned the milk and has taken out the butter. That’s why we kept telling you that you didn’t need to churn it anymore.” The realization took about all of 3 seconds to sink in. For half an hour I had smiled and churned away under the eyes of my new friend and her family…at a milky substance that would never be butter. Never ever be butter. Embarrassed for being the foolish “city girl” for the first time in my life… I started laughing. And we laughed all weekend as we retold the story to neighbors and friends. Imagine me…enthusiastically churning, so happy to help, smiling brightly, eager to make butter. Then imagine the family (and their neighbors), coming in and out as they do their normal chores, wondering at this strange American girl who won’t stop churning in her fancy clothes…and laugh!