Site Placement

Written by Jonathan on 8/30

One of the major causes of stress during pre-service training is worrying about where one will be placed. Geography plays a huge part in this, but so does your school or organization and host family. But for now, I at least know where I am going and the answer is Kochkor.
First, geographical location. The Narin Oblast is the largest oblast in Kyrgyzstan. It is located in the middle of the country, directly south of Bishkek down to the border of China and Tajikistan. The village of Kochkor is located in the northeast corner of the oblast. If you are looking at a map, find Issik-Kul Lake (the really big one!) and then find the city of Balikchy. Follow the main road west and south and you will run across Kochkor. They say it is only 1 hour from the Lake. I guess now you have to visit! It is not in the high mountains, like the city of Narin. More on that in the next paragraph.
It says in the packet that I received describing my site says that Kochkor has “mild climate.” I’m not sure if that is in relation to Narin City, which is the coldest place in Kyrgyzstan and certainly anything mild by comparison may be not so mild after all. The region is not in the mountains, so much of the adverse weather that makes Narin so difficult is not to be found in Kochkor. Narin is still the coldest oblast and anyone from the region gets their fare share of weather. The biggest bonus is that the roads to and from Kochkor are not blocked off for the winter like the roads to Narin. Whew!
The village itself is about 15,000 people and is surrounded by about 8 more villages in the direct vicinity. From what I understand, it is a well developed area, comparatively speaking. It is the center of its rayon (think county government, kinda). The closest city is Balikchy (which I just realized means “fisherman” in Kyrgyz) and the closest large city is Narin City. From what I am told, it is about 4 hours from Bishkek.
My job will be working with an NGO called Altyn-Kol Women’s Handicraft Cooperative. I am replacing a volunteer who came and spoke with us at the beginning of PST. His name was Trent and we will have some overlap before he goes to the States. The Coop was started by a Swiss volunteer and has been around for 11 years. They make shyrdaks, which are traditional Kyrgyz blankets and then export them or sell them during tourist season. They have a storefront and have been working on developing an internet storefront as well. I’m not sure what I will actually be doing yet. We’ll see.
One more note: Today, (August 31) is Independence Day in The Kyrgyz Republic. On an even more exciting note, my Kyrgyz teacher/buddy Temirlan’s wife just had their first child, a boy. Even the stoic Temirlan had to smile. Hopefully he will get to see his son soon.
We will visit sites soon and will give an update. I have homework to do. Bye!