Two Stops Past Siberia

It has sure been a full packed week here so far. For those of you who didn’t hear, I set out to bring 500 fruit trees to the hamlet of Orto Nura, just less than one week ago. I had requested that you all might help raise the $1,750 required to see the project through to completion, and thus far, we’ve already got 72%. First off, thanks a lot folks. The donation period will end on May 5^th, and we’re almost there.

Since then, I have been working as hard as I can, drawing on every skill I’ve so far developed to get this tree project off the ground.

I first heard about the wonderful co-op that brings trees down from the fertile Issyk Kul nurseries in their own truck, complete with moist dirt and expert trainers to assist tree recipients, from my counterpart at the UNDP office here, where I currently work. She put me in contact with the director of Zhash Danaker, for those of you who remember, my original work site.

With assurances from the experts that trees would grow in Orto Nura, I set out to convince the people. While I had been asked to do the project there by one resident, others were concerned that their little place in the sun was just too cold for fruit. So, armed with information to the contrary and some elementary Kyrgyz, I set out for the village last Friday to spread the good news.

Needless to say, the residents that I sat in the taxi with on the way down all thought it was a great idea. “They will grow,” one older lady said, “we’re just lazy.”

“Plus, we need to be taught,” said another passenger, “the people on the lake know about growing trees, we need to learn.” Perfect, was my reply, I’m bringing experts, too.

Then, in Orto Nura, freshly excited from this interested, I fell upon the Alphabet Holiday at the local school. Teachers, parents and students were all gathered, and the kids were reciting riddles, tongue twisters, and portions of the great Kyrgyz epic, the Manas. While my PCV partner in this, Rachel, and I chose not to steal the children’s thunder, after the event, during the teacher’s tea break, we sat together, and I said to the woman next to me, “hey, I have an announcement, but I’m a little embarrassed to just give it.”

Something about this kind of eagerness seems to appeal to the Kyrgyz, and she glowed, “Ladies, this boy here has something to say!”

Then, with a room of 10 middle aged teacher ladies at my disposal, I began with my standard, “I don’t speak Kyrgyz well yet, so if I mess up here, will you all help me out?” And with nods, and smiles of agreement, I told them what I wanted to do, and Rachel’s pen got busy as the tree orders piled in. That plus an eager local government almost assures we’ll make this happen.

The last and final step, as I looked over the nuts and bolts of this project, was actually getting your generous donations into Kyrgyzstan. The logistics of this were something I hadn’t previously considered. My bank said my current account wouldn’t accept American dollars, but if I set up a new one, they’d give me the “SWIFT” codes I needed to make it all happen.

And that folks, is that. 500 trees for Earth Day and Arbor Day, generously paid for by you all, my friends and family, made possible by me and the Peace Corps. For the actual event, I’ve got a handi-cam. So stay tuned for the video folks, this one is gonna be for the record books.