Stories from Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

With unbounded enthusiasm and a certain amount of pride, Sergey showed us round the grounds. There were the pig sties, the chicken coops, rabbit hutches, workshops for shoe making, carpentry, mechanics. Bees were providing honey; fruit and other plants were growing in neat rows. Abundance, life and productivity were all around.

This may not be what you expect at a centre for those addicted to drugs, alcohol or both. Indeed from the look on the faces of those living at this project in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, it was not what they were expecting either. Most people don’t plan to end up here. Many told of how they suddenly found themselves in the gutter, having lost what good things they had to their addiction and with them the hope of getting out again. Survival and hits became the only purpose; escape a fleeting dream.

But here they are learning to live free from that prison; learning to live in a supportive community, learning new skills and discipline, tending chickens, making door frames, harvesting honey.

The conditions are certainly basic. The one bathroom un-tiled, the classroom doubling as the dining room, the bunk-beds crammed into one room.

A shipment from Crossroads arrived in the months following our staff’s initial visit. Tiles and paint, more bunk beds, a fridge, clothes, shoes, computers, crockery and more were sent, enabling this wonderful project to take in more men and see more lived touched by hope.