DanChurchAid
Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan
The strength of community
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| Self Help Group from settlement Altyn Besik in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2006 |
By JPO, Pia Dyrhagen pdy@dca.dk
Self help groups has shown to be useful tools in fighting poverty and engage people in fighting for their own rights in Central Asia.
Self help groups usually consist of 10 to 15 members, who meet a couple of times every month. During the meetings everyday problems are discussed and the members try to find ways to solve them jointly.
The Central Asian partners of DanChurchAid all share the same vision: “Together we are stronger.” This vision has a specific meaning in a post-Soviet context, where decades of state collectivism undermined the social network of the citizens and their trust in each other.
Not alone with the problems
The self help groups restore this trust and the members emphasise the social aspect of the community as the most important.
“It is very comforting to see that you are not alone. Before I did not know my neighbours, but now they are my friends”, says Batecxan from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
During Communism the state took responsibility for all citizens’ problems and needs, and all services were free. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Central Asian states in 1991 resulted in the break down of the public welfare system; today solutions depend on the initiative of the citizens themselves.
Saving funds to water, electricity and gas
In the settlement of Altyn Becik, Almaty, the most important problems were identified by the self help groups: lack of water, electricity and gas. They started to collect money from the members of the settlement and asked the local authorities to provide building materials.
The work of the self help group members resulted in a small water pump which provides 150 households with water. The inhabitants made the local authorities aware of their other problems through letters and meetings.
This resulted in electrical installations, and gas pipes are on the way. Next priority for the self help groups is to build a school and a kindergarten in the settlement.
Joint efforts are more effective
This kind of cooperation and joint lobbyism convinces the members of the self help groups that they can change something together. As one of the members says: “Before we were just sitting without doing anything. But our joint efforts have taught me of the strength of community.”
DanChurchAid has been working in Central Asia since 1996. In Kazakhstan DanChurchAid supports two Ngo’s working with self help groups: AW Moldir and AO Baspana. Both Ngo’s target the poorest and most vulnerable people with their activities: single mothers and rural migrants.
Kazakhstan
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