ACT Alliance

Dr Mahmuda wears a face mask to protect patients from her cold.
ACT/Dima Motinov

Mahmuda is the family doctor in an Uzbek neighbourhood of Kyrgyzstan’s second largest city, Osh, which was badly damaged in the ethnic clashes in June.

When Mahmuda returned from holiday two weeks after the clashes, her main task was to change the bandages of the wounded who had received first aid at a nearby oncology unit.

Mahmuda looks tired. She points with her head to the empty chair next to her desk. “I used to work together with a nurse but she left after the events in June. I asked her to come back but she did not want to. She is Kyrgyz.

“Then, I asked my boss for support but nobody wants to work here, not even Uzbeks. The conditions are too difficult. I am not only responsible for a nearby tent city but for the whole neighbourhood.” Around 1500 people combined live in the tent city and the neighbourhood.

Heavy rains have started in Osh and the Tian Chan mountains nearby are already covered in snow. But Mahmuda’s clinic - a small room divided by a curtain - is unheated. Nights are getting colder and nearly a third of people living in tents have already caught colds because they lack blankets and warm clothes. Tents which keep the heat in better would help, says Mahmuda.

Packing relief
At the same time, in a big storehouse in the capital Bishkek, Asiyat Kylyshbekova from ACT Alliance is giving instructions on packing a whole assortment of relief items. Soon to be dispatched are 630 hygiene kits consisting of soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and towels, 1000 blankets, thermos cans and sets of underwear and 150 children’s packs of nappies, hats and gloves.

Kyrgyz discounter Narodnyj, whose shops in Bishkek were looted in April, has supplied goods to ACT for a good price. On top of that, Narodnyj has sent 16 people to help with the packing. Nazar Kim and Shailoobek volo Norbek, employees of a local auditing company, are making sure that no goods get lost “between the store and the recipient,” as they say.

The trucks will soon be loaded to start the journey from Bishkek to Osh, crossing two passes that rise to over 3000m.

Tatiana Kotova from ACT member DanChurchAid, based in Bishkek, is worried about the weather.  Rain in Bishkek means snow in the mountains. The road has been closed because of the snow and will only re-open once the rain has stopped. She hopes the trucks can leave soon.

Meanwhile, in Osh, Mahmuda has caught a cold herself. She is wearing a protective face mask but keeps on working. “I can't rest,” she says. “There is no-one to replace me.”

A young woman enters the clinic. A few minutes before, she was teaching in school in a tent. She slumps onto the desk, her head in her hands, and asks for medicine for her angina. Although her temperature is down, she still feels weak. Like many others in this neighbourhood, she cannot allow herself to take a rest. Mahmuda examines her and gives a prescription.

Soon, Mahmuda will not have to examine her patients wearing a coat. A new clinic with three separate treatment rooms, warm water and heating is already being built. However, winter shelter for people in her neighbourhood will not be ready for several more weeks. Until then, winter packages like those being sent by ACT remain badly needed.