As some of you already knows I had to leave the country in order to renew my VISA for staying in Kazakhstana so I spent the last few days in Kyrgystan, which a southern country and more muslsim.
It'a much poorer thatn Kazak and you can immediately see it once you cross the border; streets and houses, which we might not call them so like, tell you about the poverty and how people might struggle not to reach the end of the month but of the day. I do have to say it's been a gift to visit such a country and to meet the people I've met. I want to tell you that the majority of the population lives with an income from 3 to 5 US Dollars per MONTH. Ok prices are really really low but yet they live on bread only. It's really difficult to have just bread and some times potatoes and onions to eat, isn't it? The kids live on the streat... I actually went to a bazar, they say it's the biggest in ASIA (it's said you can buy anything you want there and very conveniently... I did not found what I was looking for...)anyhow, I was deeply deeply touched in seeing little kids, probably the age of my nephews, working in the market: pushing huge, and I mean HUGE, trollies full of any sort of goods, or even trying to sell some sort of not-wealthy-looking pastries or bananas or knelt down somewhere hoping for someone to stop and polish their shoes... I'm sorry but no pictures of that, kids are not animals in a zoo to look @...
The second day I had to wait for the Kazak embassy to give me the new VISA I went visiting some people with one of the sisters who are missioners in Kyrgystan. She wanted me to meet Nina, an 80+ y.o. woman by whom I've been deeply touched again and I mean... where am I? What can I tell the Lord when I sit in front of the tabernacle?
Nina spent her infancy and childhood in a Lager working hard all day long. She said one day her grandfather and her brother tried to escape but were captured and hanged. All the prisoners had to watch it to learn the punishment and the guards kept asking "who knwos these two men? who knows these two men?". Nina as a child, and being the nephew and sister of those men, was just about to lift up her hand when her mum hid little Nina under her skirt, as they would have been both killed.
Nina has belonged to the Orthodox Church for most of her life but then joined the catholic church, I don't know why.
When you go visint the poors in their houses you do expect to see anything and very rarely you get surprised, but she has a dignity I was really impressed by . She lives in a 5 squared meters room and the smell was quite strong.
Well what I wanted to say is that beside her queenly dignity I was really surprised to see that she was reading a book of
Cardinal Spidlik .
Nina also said that some year ago her grand grand child drunk some acid and was seriously enjured so she run to the hospital carrying the little baby, but once there she was told they could do nothing as she had no money. She left the hospital crying with ther nephew dying on her lap; while she was walking home a man was realy touched by the scene who asked what's happened and once told he run to the hospital with the baby and manage to have him cured, now he lives but he's really weak and often sick...
Well, this is Nina:
I have some difficulties in adding photos here; therefore, as usal, I'll publish them
hereCome qualcuno di voi gia' sa ho dovuto lasciare il paese per rientrare poi con un altro permesso di soggiorno. ho passato cosi' questi ultimi giorni in Kyrgystan, a sud del Kazakhstan. Il Kyrgystan e' un paese decisamente piu' mussulmano. E' un paese anche molto piu' povero e lo si capisce subito. Non appena si oltrepassa il confine le strade e le case mostrano una realta' assai diversa. Le persone vivono con uno stipendio medio che va dai 3 ai 5 dollari al mese. Ovviamente i prezzi sono molto piu' bassi che da noi, ma ugualmente la maggior parte della popolazione e' ridotta a mangiare solo pane, qualche volta con cipolle e patate. Le strade sono piene di bambini impegnati non solo in giochi ma anche in lavori a volte pesanti. Ne ho visto qualcuno in un bazar, cioe' un enorme mercato, spingere dei carrelli veramente enormi, oppure a vendere un po' di frutta o altre cose da mangiare davvero poco invitanti; altri invece seduti in angoletti sperando di poter lucidare le scarpe a qualche passante e guadagnare qualcosa.
Ringrazio comunque di aver visitato quel paese, soprattutto per le persone che ho incontrato, i santi si nascondono davvero nei bassifondi qualche volta.
Ho infatti conosciuto Nina, una signora di piu' di ottant'anni che vive in un tugurio di si e no 5 metri quadri e dall'odore decisamente forte... il bagno in comune con altri condomini che vivono nelle stesse condizioni. (Nina e' la signora delle foto qui sopra). nina ha passato la sua infanzia nei lagher costretta ai lavori forzati gia' da bambina. Ha raccontato che suo nonno e suo fratello avevano provato a scappare, ma poi erano stati catturati e quindi impiccati. Tutti i prigionieri dovevano assitere all'impiccagione per imparare la lezione e mentre questa avveniva le guardie chiedevano "chi conosce questi due uomini?" Lei, da bambina, stava per alzare la mano ma la mamma aveva prontamente nascosto nina sotto la gonna sperando che non dicesse nulla perche' sarebbero state uccise entrambe. Ora Nina ha una figlia alcolizzata e un figlio in prigione, una nipote che non sta bene e un pronipote gravemente malato a causa dell'acido che ha bevuto qualche hanno fa. Quando questo fatto avvenne lei porto' il bambino in ospedale, ma i medici le dissero che senza pagare non potevano fare nulla. Cosi' comincio' a camminare e a pregare il Signore, piangendo col bambino in braccio che stava piano piano morendo. Per la citta' poi incontro' un uomo che, colpito da quella scena, la riporto' subito in ospedale e fece operare il bambino...
Nina ha una grande dignita' ma la cosa che piu' mi ha colpito e' che quando sono arrivato da lei stava leggendo un libro, e indovinate cosa? un libro del
cardinal Spidlik...
Le foto credono che possano parlare meglio delle mie parole, ma come al solito ho delle difficolta' a pubblicarle in questo blog, quindi le trovate al solito
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