Tour guide and creative craftsmen are my main professions

Ruslan moved 2011 from the children’s home to the Social Village Manas to Murake. Animals in general and in particular cows are his great passion. He used to milk the cows of the Social Village in the morning and bring them to the shepherd of the village. Because the agricultural tasks changed, his work shifted. He helps everywhere around the house and the barn where he is needed. Only sewing he doesn´t like.

He also likes leading guests through the village of Murake, where the Social Village Manas lays at the outskirts. Ruslan knows every person and every corner in the village. He always knows where a bitch has just got a puppy. He can also tell a lot of insider information during his tours.

Ruslan is sociable, but he does not like to talk about his time in the orphanage. It was not nice. He rather tells of his parents, and how well they were to him. He says, “They died many years ago in a car accident. That’s why I had to go to the orphanage”. He loves the Social Village Manas and likes to live there. “All I need for being happy is here – tea, food, friends and cows.” He likes to make small gifts of felt for the manager or guests. He is not able to write and cannot memorize numbers, so he sometimes asks the volunteers or staff to write a letter to them. Only the employees of the Social Village Manas know that Ruslan was found at the street with a letter in the pocket as a baby by a policeman. The policeman then took him to the orphanage. But Ruslan is very happy and satisfied with his reality. He is 28 years old.

In 2019/2020 he visited a course about organic farming in the state lyceum. He learned about composting and in general about work in the garden and greenhouse and can now introduce his knowledge in these areas at the Social Village.

I love to spread good mood

Everybody calls Adilbek simply Adil.

Adil who is by now 22 years old, came 2016 from the children´s home in Belovodsk into his new home. He quickly felt at ease in the Social Village and is since then everybody´s favourite. With his cheeky smirk and mischievous smile, he often spreads good mood.

At the institution in Belovodsk he spent one part of his childhood. At the beginning his mother visited him there but at some point she stopped coming. In 2019 her mother and her aunt visited him after many years. Adil uses a wheelchair and can only limitedly move his arms and legs. This does not hinder him from making jokes. He laughs a lot and likes to joke around with volunteers and staff.

During the day he spends his time at the workshop or is busy with the volunteers. He loves the sensorimotor exercises to stretch his shortened tendons, likes puzzling, enjoys watching books and draws with enthusiasm. Adil knows what he wants and show it with his facial expression and gestures. He also likes being in the nature and he especially falls for dogs. He is fascinated by lions and tigers. Moreover, he likes listening to music or making sounds by himself.

Adil learned at the Social Village to drink by himself and to eat bread. He obviously enjoys the Social Village and became the centre of the Social Village.

Hello, it´s me… (is it you?)

Gulja came to the Social Villag in February 2018. She was born in 2000 and has already experienced a lot. Until she was 3 years old she lived with her parents. After that she was sent from one rehabilitation centre to another. Her father once promised to accommodate Gulja when she is of age. Unfortunately, that did not work. When she visited him for one week, she was strongly hoping to stay there. Gulja is originally from Talas and when she is asked where she comes from, she points into the right direction and laughs.

Gulja is very curious, diligent, powerful and attentive. Already since the first day she came into the Social Village she lovingly cares about Adil, but also about her friend Ajana, Ernis and the volunteers. She is happy about every visitor at the Social Village.

If something undesirable happens to Gulja, she is deeply sad. But her sorriness is not lasting for long. Soon the sun shines for her again. Gulja loves music and regularly asks Maxim who is currently singing in the radio. She really likes to dance, preferably together with other friends. It is wonderful when she sings to hits.

Gulja skillfully sews and when she finished, she proudly shows the cushion. She also helps a lot in garden and household. Sometimes she recognizes tasks by herself or happily helps when she is asked to do so. In the garden Gulja detects each earthworm, every large stone deep in the earth and every ripe strawberry.

She is certainly a real support for everyone.

Aeroport Manas-Dubai-Ferrari

Maxim already has been in Dubai and wants to fly there one day again. He already owns a travelling bag and a passport. Now he only needs a ticket. Then the journey could start. Also, the visit at the airport was really impressing to him.

Maxim spots every airplane at the sky and asks himself where it is heading and who is sitting in the airplane. Preferably he would also sit in the airplane and travel somewhere.

Maxim was born in 2001 and is therefore the youngest resident. He came 2018 together with Gulja and Ajana to the Social Village. Also, Ernis has become a good friend of Maxim. At the beginning Maxim made plans how to run away to his `real` home when it is warmer. But by now he realizes that he just has to stay where he is as he is already in his `real` home.

His mother has left him as an infant in the birth house and didn´t leave a contact. He was already in six different facilities and lives now in the Social Village in his seventh home. Therefore, bonding with other people is difficult for him. However, he is very open towards other people and likes to contact people.

 Maxim is good at sewing. He does small and neat stitches in order to sew felt pieces strongly together. Out of all the felt remains he and the other residents sewed several seat cushions. To balance the seating and the minute motor activity Maxim sometimes helps in the garden. However, sometimes this is not so easy as the weed sting, the handy become dirty and at the street there are cars which are more interesting. Maxim is quite good at painting, thinking and calculating. He can draw beautiful pictures and trace shapes.

Maxim expresses often unusual wishes – an iPhone, Ferrari or a jouney to Dubai.

I am taxi driver

Ernis is since 2017 at the Social Village Manas and he really likes it there. He likes pretending to be a taxi driver and is enthusiastic about tractors, trucks, taxis and cars in general. Ernis works a lot in the barn and at the farm. He carries the cow dung with the wheelbarrow to the dung heap – of course he is during that a taxi or tractor driver. Again and again, he has to stop and listen. There, at the street drives by a truck. After short dreaming and time in his own world he can continue the drive and his work.

Since his birth Ernis has a strong mental disability. He used to live with his brothers and his both parents until his father died. After that, his grandmother took care of him. When he turned 16, he went to a state children´s home. Now he is 21 years old and does all the tasks he is allocated with: getting vegetables from the cellar, making fire, taking away dung, bringing cows to the watering… he walks a lot during the day and at noon he is so tired that he likes to take a nap.

Ernis is a very loving, calm, humorous, childish young man. He does not talk much and loves to imitate noises and movements of thing.

Sometimes he cautiously tells that he misses his relatives and that he wants to see his brothers. Unfortunately, they avoid phone contact and visit very seldom.

I love cows, you too?

Aman and Almaz came together with Urmat from the rehabilitation center Malowodnoe into the Social Village in summer 2018. Their fate and life journey were similarly: their families tervigersated, they don´t have any contact to their relatives and spent their childhood in different facilities. Both were educated in computer science and received a (reduced) education as a cook.

They share a room and work from the beginning on together very independently and carefully in the barn, take care that the cows have enough water and fodder and milk them. They are proud of every liter of milk and every new calf. When there was born a calf in winter, they took bedding material into the Banja and brought the calf there in order that the calf did not suffer coldness.

Together they visited several seminars about livestock farming and Aman likes to share rits knowledge with others. They are very thankful about being able to visit seminars and doing their favorite activity at the Social Village: working in the barn.

Whenever there are problems or questions in the barn, Aman calls independently the veterinarian. He is more communicative than Almaz, but after 2,5 years at the Social Village he also talks more that at the beginning.

The employees at the Social Village are very thankful about the two tidy, diligent and polite residents.

My parents have not decided for the apparently easier way.

Bektur is the savant among the inhabitants of the Social Village Manas. He would have liked to become an anthropologist or a historian. He is 37 years old, lives sometimes at the external group and sews with perseverance cushions.

He likes to talk with the volunteers about kings, revolutions, religions and history. He is a man of philosophy. Sometimes he calls himself an anarchist. Mathematics is difficult for him, but he likes to grab the volunteers in the evening to practice with him.

He has a family that he regularly visits. But his parents are very poor and sick, so they cannot take care of Bektur. He says his childhood was quite normal. He was allowed to go to school in Nadjeshda for nine years. He could not go to a public school because of a defect of his legs. Education is not provided for people with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan. His parents, however, have always done all they could to provide Bektur a normal life. Now that they can no longer support him, he is also dependent on the help of donors.

Irina came in winter 2020 into the Social Village. She spent her childhood in different childrens homes because her parents died early. She now works in the felt workshop and helps wherever it is necessary.

She is very pleased about visitors and likes to talk to the visitors or the employees. The right relation between closeness and distance is something she still has to learn.

She loves the festivities in the Social Village where she can dance and wear nice dresses.

Baiaman was born in Jalalabad without disabilities. Because of an accident he cannot move his legs and has to use a wheelchair. But he is very strong as he regularly exercises with dumbbells. That´s why he always wins arm wrestling competitions.

He used to live with his family at different places in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. His parents work in Russia and visit him when they are in Kyrgyzstan. His relatives in Kyrgyzstan visit him regularly and support the Social Village with donations in kind.

Baiaman spent 3 years at the children´s home in Belowodsk, but never visited a school and thus did not learn to read or to write.

When he was eighteen, he was allowed to move to the Social Village Manas.

Within the previous years he lived during summertime at the external group and during winter in the Social Village.

Baiaman sews very nice cushions.

Islam came to the Social Village in 2020. Despite his shortened arm he does physical work very well: he carries water, sweeps the floor or shovels snow and helps in the barn. Only working in the felt workshop he does not like. His place to work is outside. He is a peaceful person and does not like argues.

Akyl is always smiling! He is pleased about fellow occupants, employees but also about visitors. And of course, everyone likes him because of his openness.

Like many other residents he had to cope with many losses and contact rejections in his life and has now hopefully found in the Social Village a place for living. He quickly settled down and has learned the different work steps in the workshop.

Nurzulu is the youngest resident in the Social Village and came shortly after her 18th birthday from her family in the south of Kyrgyzstan into the Social Village. At the beginning she did not like to work and had difficulties to adapt to living together in the group. After half a year the initial difficulties were gone, and she developed into a diligent young woman. She loves pretty dresses, jewelry and festivities.

Zhaksylyk has been living in the Social Village since the summer of 2022, having spent his childhood in various homes. Most recently he was in the children’s home in Malovodnoe and knows several other residents from there. He is a joyful, active young man who likes to work and dance. His favorite thing to do is to clean the floors and help Bayamann. In his old facility, he also enjoyed helping the wheelchair users.