While we were celebrating Christmas here in the states, it was just another Monday for Danny in Krygrzstan. Being a muslim country, Christmas is not celebrated in his village. Danny did get together with a few fellow PCV to 'celebrate' Christmas.
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| In Tash-Kumyr |
New Year is also not a 'big deal' in his village as the villagers celebrate Nowruz aka 'Persian New Year' instead. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Iran was the only country that officially observed the ceremonies of Nowruz. When the Central Asian countries gained independence from the Soviets, they also declared Nowruz as a national holiday. Nowruz is usually around the first day of spring (March 21).
Although the Krygrz do not celebrate Christmas, the schools are closed for winter break from about Dec 28 to jan 10. During this period, Danny chaperoned 8 of his students for a 2-day seminar in Jalal-abad. The school hired a marshrutka (mini-bus) for the 5 hours travel to Jalal-abad.
In this two-day seminar, 54 youth from across southern Kyrgyzstan learned important information about community needs and the basics of project design and management. Now, through 11 projects of their own making, they have become more engaged community members.
This seminar was put together by PCV Ben Gowdy-Chase with Peace Corps support and volunteers, ENACTUS program University students, Asel Turgunova from the United Nations Population Fund, and the local project expert Tynchtyk Bakytov.
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| Group pursuing irrigation improvement project. |
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| Group working on road safety program |
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| The entire group - Danny in the back row behind the student raising his hands. |
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