On my mile walk to school I soak in the city. There’s a group of old men gathered around a bench watching as two play cards, several women finishing replacing spring’s blooms with a vast array of roses and other heat-tolerant flowers along the street, and throngs of uniformed children heading to and from school. And the fact that Artesia is the poorest country in Central Asia almost escapes me.
Work is scarce in the city. Many men go to neighboring countries and work for months at a time, sending money back to their families. But with the pandemic, the routes to these countries have been closed and just recently reopened. Yet compared to villages, city life is luxury. In villages, the even more men leave to find work. Others make a hard living from farming in mountainous and fairly un-farmable land or raising several cows or goats. And often, villages are far from things like medical care.
In both the city and villages, life for women is harsh. Women generally live with their husbands family and are essentially slaves in the homes of their mothers in law. It is gut-wrenchingly normal for husbands and mothers in law to verbally and physically abuse these women. Cycles of such abuse are evident.
And yet, Thursday when I was first able to visit a village with a few of our local partners I was so encouraged!
In a village where a medical clinic was completed last year (previously the nearest clinic was a 7 kilometer walk). Two of our women local partners, Sada and Jala, are working with four women in the village to bring about the next project. These four women are stepping up as leaders to take charge of auxiliary planning and logistics. Thursday was dedicated to coordinating a month of meals for the men who would be working the job. Sada and Jala pour into these leaders providing support, leadership training, and planning assistance.
Despite the realties that these women face, my time in the village was marked by laughter, one woman even telling me it is the culture of women to laugh with one another when they are gathered. I rejoice that our local partners bring an opportunity for women to gather and to laugh. To be encouraged and to be equipped. And to be loved on by our local partners and learn how dearly they are loved by Jesus.