The Sulayman Mountain

Today Sundanshu and I climbed The Sulayman Mountain in Osh (also known as Taht-I-Suleiman,Sulayman Rock or Sulayman Throne). The only World Heritage Site in the country of Kyrgyzstan.

Räddningsinsats

Vi åkte, chauffören, tolken och jag, på vägen mellan Jalalabad och Osh. En underbart vacker väg längs dalgången mellan bergen och bland annat genom ett bergpass. Plötsligt ser chauffören en merca köra av vägen och volta flera gånger rätt ut på en åker. Jag halvsover och han väcker mig och säger, vad ska vi göra nu. Det är bara att hjälpa till säger jag. Vi stannar och min första tanke är, nu larmar vi SOS 112 och så tänker jag på mina vänner i räddningstjänsten hemma. Men vaddå, det funkar ju inte här. Så det är bara att ta saken i egna händer. Chauffören och jag ser att två män kryper ur bilvraket, chockade och ivrigt blödande. Så det är bara att ta fram förbandsväskan i ryggsäcken, på med engångshandskarna och så lägga förband på flera ställen med otäcka skärsår.

När vi är färdiga så hjälper lokalt boende människor till och ger de drabbade stöd. Vi kunde konstatera att allt gick bra och att allt var bra efter omständigheterna trots den häftiga olyckan.

Trainings

Three trainings in community-based psychosocial support have been performed. Two through the UNICEF Cluster for 36 male community leaders in Osh and Jalalbad. One training have been performed for ACT Alliance local partner staff members, 2 men and 14 women. Participants were active and eager to learn more.

The trainings have been good but it is not easy. The awareness of psychosocial support is new and has yet do be discovered. Local partners and other NGO’s are very busy in a hectic work with reconstruction of houses and occupied by distribution of winter packages before winter. There are also many trainings going on within UN organisations and NGO’s, so there is not much space in time tables for new things. When it come to questions of humanitarian aid and support the general thinking is very materialistic (thanks to Karl Marx, one participant said) and the good humanitarian aid worker is seen as a person coming with many packages.

One difficult issue in planning and performing trainings is that time and situation is not always ready for having community leaders from different ethnic groups at the same spot. Tensions are still very high. Only time and working on humanitarian holistic basic needs can achieve better circumstances for meeting points

We continue, in dialogue, with partners to pinpoint training needs in community based psychosocial support and also how I can mentor and coach persons with key functions in the communities.

Though the psychosocial awareness is new staff members and volunteers are very eager to talk about this issue and prepared increasing knowledge and practice.

Kyrgyzstan: Healing wounds of conflict

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 only first aid at a nearby oncology unit.

The cotton that couldn't be picked in June is now being picked