Copper Craftsment

We have less than 6 months left of our service in Azerbaijan. We have been in Azerbaijan now for 20 months, and our focus is upon wrapping up our work.
For Linda the conclusion happened in many ways this week. Due to the flooding refugees and other factors, school is over for this academic year. It is a bit sad because at the end of school there is a graduation ceremony called “Last Bell”. Those finishing secondary school this year will not have the “Last Bell” experience. School attendance is mandatory through the ninth form (grade). After the ninth form, the best students prepare for the University attending the tenth and eleventh form. For better students they may attend trade and career schools called colleges. The rest of the students begin looking for work or husbands.
Linda is planning several activities for the summer, but her main responsibilities at School Number 9 are over until next September 15. The beginning of the school year is chaotic and usually the schedule is in flux until about the first week in November. So, essentially Linda’s greatest contributions in the classroom and teacher training have been completed.

The pictures highlight our time in Lahic looking at the copper and metal working shops. Lahic area is known for its copper, silver, and bronze work, but especially copper.
Last posting had a picture of Kamal whose father and uncle have a copper works shop. Kamal’s grandfather was a copper artisan, and someday he will be also. Kamal’s family are very good promoters and businessmen. Kamal’s father works on the historical preservation of Lahic, and Kamal’s task is to find tourists and give them personal attention as to the sights and interests of Lahic.
The craftsman pictured is not Kamal’s father, but one of the first shops we entered. The work begins early every morning and literally is from sunup to sundown. The tourist season is very important to the economy of Lahic. It is listed in the Lonely Planet book, and many people make a daytrip from Baku, Ganja, and Mingachevar.
Linda is pictured holding copper earrings purchased from the man beside her. He told us these were his work. He was a good salesman, and we purchased a couple of other souvenirs.

The level of the river Kura is still the major issue facing the people of Azerbaijan currently. We went to the river in the old city on Sunday and were not ready for what we saw. We will post pictures in the future.

We leave for Turkey on June 14, and will return on June 24. We are planning on posting on the blog, June 5 and 12, then as soon as we can after we return.

We cannot express our gratitude enough for all the care packages we receive. If you are planning on sending a package, please do not mail until after June 15. Any package mailed after June 15 should not arrive until after we return from Turkey.

Tim Cone, PCV at Lahic

I’m late with this posting of the blog due to a lack of internet access, but all is OK now.
First, the flooding continues to be the major story in our area of Azerbaijan. The river Kura continues to rise and 2 more villages were evacuated this week. To put in proportion with the one million Internally Displaced People from the war with Armenia, and now the flooding, the government is providing some form of housing for 15 per cent of the nation. We walked by the tent city here in Shirvan and the stench from the makeshift latrines was noticable a quarter of a mile away.
The governement is considering using some schools to house those displaced by the flooding. Even though in our area the rains have stopped and we have hot dry weather, the river continued to rise from conditions to the north and west.
Peace Corps Volunteers, Derek and Alicia Johnson have been permanently moved to a new assignment within Azerbaijan. The Peace Corps has been in contact regularly checking with those in affected areas.

Now, for happier times, we return to our trip to Lahic. It is a village of about 2,000. Tim Cone who is a very special person to Linda is the Peace Corps Volunteer in Lahic. In the picutre of the PCV’s pointing to their home states are from left to right; Murina who is in Ismaylli (about 1 hour from Lahic), Tim who is from Wisconsin, Sharif whose father is Egyptian, Linda, and Mariana who is from a small town in Southeast Georgia and is stationed in Shamaxi (about 2 hours from Lahic).
Tim’s school is old, but well cared for. For an Azerbaijan school there are many visual aids and art work upon the walls. In Linda’s school, nothing is permitted to be attached to the walls in any of the classrooms. Tim’s school, though it is a village school, has new blackboards, storage areas for teachers, clean, well maintained desks, and Tim even has an office he shares with the counselor with dial-up internet access.
The school has 6 computers in the math classroom, but Tim has never seen them being used. In Azerbaijan schools computers are often locked up. The schools want to publize that computers are at the schools and are taught, but the students rarely get to actually turn them on and use them. I have 2 students in a conversation club that said they received the highest marks possible in Information Technology at their school, and they have never sat at the computers in the school.
Sharif’s father is an Egyptian-American and Sharif is Muslim. Sharif is in a small village outside of Ismaylli and followed a very poor PCV. He has the greatest attitude, smile, dedication, and sense of humor. He is doing an effective job at his site. Being Muslim has given him an instant respect and acceptance.
Tim does a good job at the school and seems to be highly appreciated. Anyone in a village school is limited as to the potential counterparts with which to work. His school has a Director who has a passion for his students, and works diligently to provide a learning environment.

The last picture is of a wonderful woman who lives in 2 rooms of the ruins of an old hotel. There was once 72 rooms with a garden area. She opened her door and asked us to see her home. She showed us the gardens, and took us to this beautiful spot and the sights that she awakes to every morning. The young man in the picture is named Kamal. His father is a copper craftsman, like his grandfather, and like he will be some day. Kamal hangs around the street and finds tourists. She showed us to a museum operated by his aunt, and finally to his father's shop.

Finally, today, Linda and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary with a dinner of pasta with Alfredo sauce, salad, and a cheese cake (thanks to a package from the Baker’s). We never thought 39 years ago we would be here, serving our country, the people of Azerbaijan and you. Thank you for your love and support!

Tragedy and Nature's Beauty

Like in the United States weather often brings damage and destruction. This week there has been major flooding in Sabirabad and Salyan regions. These are to the west and south of Shirvan along the Kur river which passes through all three. There was a lot of mountain snow this year and it has been an exceptionally wet spring. We are fortunate that the Kur remained in its banks in Shirvan, but thousands are displaced due to the flooding.
Many people go and live with relatives nearby. One girl named Sabina is an example. There are now 35 people living in their home. I said, “where do they sleep” – “everywhere” was the answer. Cooking is a continual process. It is what families do.
However, not everyone has nearby family and the government has erected a tent city here in Shirvan. Linda and I walk by and wish there was something more we could do to ease the human suffering due to massive flooding and destruction of homes.
In one way I wanted to take a picture of the tent city to post, but felt like I would exploiting their suffering and discomfort. Fortunately this week there has been no rain, and the weather has been sunny and very hot these past two days. No word on when people may be able to return to homes, or when homes will be rebuilt which were destroyed by the ravages of the weather.

Last week we went to the village of Lahic (pronounced Lahuj). The mature women volunteers are having a retreat on June 4&5. Linda has organized the retreat as did the AZ5’s did for the AZ6’s last year. Linda wanted to make sure everything was prepared for the retreat, so we made the journey.
It was a great weekend. We traveled to Lahic on Friday. We first took a taxi to Baku, then a city bus to the new bus station, then a bus to Ismaylli, then a bus to Lahic. The entire trip was about 9 hours, and not without incident. Everything was fine except on the way from Baku to Ismaylli our bus had a blowout. All the men, Linda and I got out to take a look while all the Azeri women remain on the bus even though their presence on the bus made the van heavier to lift with the jack. Azeri culture has the women remain seated, all the men get out and check out the problem each making their suggestions, then the repair if possible. We were so happy to see that this van had a spare tire.
In Ismaylli we had about an hour and a half layover. There is a picture of Linda taking in some beautiful scenery from the teahouse where we had tea. Now, that may not seem unusual to you, but we had to ask to make sure Linda would be served. Because Ismaylli and Lahic have some tourist trade, it was acceptable. It is quite unusual for a woman to drink tea in a teahouse. It galls Americans to have this gender difference, but the culture is what it is.
In Lahic we had marvelous weather after many days of rain and flooding in the Shirvan area. The days began with sun shinning, then clouds forming, a short rain shower, then clearing again. The mountains were cooler and very pleasant.
We saw some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Azerbaijan, only thought we would perish a half-dozen times. The driving is always scary enough, but add narrow unpaved mountain roads, we tried to concentrate on the scenery and the Lord’s prayer.
The bus stopped at the entrance to the village, and we asked where was the school. We were lucky to find out there is really only 1 main road in the village of 2,000 people. The street lead us to the school where we met with a fellow Volunteer, Tim Cone.
Tim was a member of Linda’s language cluster during training. Being in the same cluster forms a great friendship and bond. Lahic is Tim’s site, and he showed us his school (more information to come in later postings), and then on to our hotel.
The cost of the hotel was 20AZN a night. We had a wood heater, and would have shared a bathroom, but it is very early in the tourist season there, and we were the only occupants of the hotel. The hotel has 13 rooms, and 8 on the second floor. We had hot water, were comfortable, and ate one meal there at the hotel.
Lahic is known for its scenery, cool weather in the summer, and copper artisans. The narrow streets, and ancient history make it a remarkable site. Again, we will post more information on the copper shops and our trip to Lahic in the next few weeks. These pictures give you an idea of the scenery.

Pen Pal Project

Pen Pals

Our Pen Pal letters from America arrived this week. I took them to school on Tuesday to hand out to the students. The students were so excited. They were yelling, laughing and jumping up and down. The class was out of control. I called students names to get their letters. Suddenly, I was almost crushed by students ready to grab their letter as soon as I called their name. They immediately wanted to know if their student was a boy or girl. They looked through the class pictures to find the picture of their student pen pals. If they could not find their pen pal’s name, they were yelling “Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Linda” trying to get my attention to help them find the student that was their pen pal. When one student found one of their pen pal pictures they had to yell at other students, “Look! Look!” It was so crazy! We only opened the letters from one of the two teachers the first day. It took the entire class time. The American pen pals had sent some CDs of their favorite music. They wanted to hear it right then. Some insisted that they should take home a CD to listen to that night.
The next day we distributed the pen pal letters from the second teacher. I was more prepared and had the class pictures spread out around the room so they would not be stepping on one another to get to the class pictures. I insisted that they all be seated and only come forward to get a letter. That idea lasted a few minutes and then they were all up ready to grab a letter and hurry to find a picture. I realized that there were other students in the room – other 8th graders and even 9th and 10th graders. It seems that they had heard about these 8th graders getting more pen pal letters at 3rd hour class. They had asked teachers if they could go to the bathroom but instead came down to our class to see the pen pal letters and pictures. Metanet (my Azerbaijani teaching partner) and I had to chase them out of our room.
Now they have to write back to the pen pals and I will e-mail their letters to the teachers in Harrisonville, Missouri so the Missouri pen pals will get a return letter before school is out. They are talking about what to tell their pen pals and asking about sending pictures. I said they could only send one picture because they were each wanting to send several pictures.
The Azerbaijani school curriculum is weak in writing goals. The textbooks have few writing activities. Most Azerbaijanis do not write letters because all their family and friends live nearby. It appears that this pen pal activity will be a great motivator for practicing writing skills.

The pictures are of three journalists who live and work in Shirvan. They attended the morning session of the Citizen Journalist Seminar. When they left, they thanked me for being an American in Azerbaijan and being interested in the political needs of their country.
The second picture has a bit of a story. The last activity of the seminar was the discussion of any important issues in Shirvan. As you have seen in past pictures of the water out of the tap in Shirvan is pretty dirty. As a joke in my conversation clubs I always ask “what color is the water in Shirvan”? Well, the journalist interviewed us, and wrote an article about the problem in Shirvan and included our interviews on radio website. Speaking about problems publicly is not encouraged to say the least. I said if I go to jail, we all go to jail together. So I linked arms with Lale and Nigar and we all committed together. Lale then asked, “will we get clean water in jail”?
The final picture is a great photograph. Next week in 3 Azerbaijan cities, Baku, Sumqayit, and Shirvan programs will be presented and information distributed on the issue of Human Trafficking. The victims of human trafficking are mostly women. The information combines the crimes against women in trafficking and domestic abuse. The best part of the events are they are being carried out by volunteers. Volunteerism is virtually missing in Azerbaijan. One of the volunteers is Nigar, a college student here in Shirvan. She is being assisted by another participant of the programs at the library, Lale.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

I realize that taxes are high, and how the government spends taxes is often controversial. We can speak with sympathy since we owed money to the IRS this year when our taxes were filed. We have always wanted to pay our fair share of taxes, but of course, no more than our fair share. I think our perspective is a common one. I would like to share a few experiences these past few weeks for which I gladly pay taxes.
Two weeks ago we went to Barda to visit our friends and fellow Volunteers, Bill and Dorothy. Dorothy’s school is in terrible physical shape. It is very old, cold, and very depressing. She took us to the school so we could see the new school, 13 rooms and administration offices, was under construction and will be dedicated next September. At the site the sign read “A gift of the American people under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers.”
A couple of years ago Dorothy’s counterpart went to a meeting where such projects were discussed, and she asked how her community could apply. She followed up, and next September boys and girls will have a much better learning environment.
Last Sunday we were returning to Shirvan from Salyan for our periodic lunch with closest fellow Volunteers, and the bus had only a few empty seats. Linda and Melissa were together and I moved to the last row where men always sit. A young man sat next to me and explained in excellent English that he lived in Lankaran and was going to a wedding in Melissa’s village.
He works (contracts) with USAID (United States Agency for International Development). He is currently a regional director for a project. As we talked about USAID and all the funds help provide in Azerbaijan. I mentioned how life was much better in Azerbaijan because it was much easier to find and purchase pasteurized milk and dairy products because of the PAL dairy products produced in Lankaran. He noted they were one of the companies that received help in organizing and developing businesses with the aid of USAID.
Then last Monday, my counterpart hosted a Citizens Journalism seminar. The seminar was conducted by Voice of America radio personnel (funded by USAID). In Azerbaijan, last year the government decided that Voice of America would not broadcast over the FM frequency. Now the broadcast is by short-wave and a very active web site (www.azadliqradiosu.az).
The essence of the seminar was to promote citizens as journalists. With the internet resources available anyone can write about issues, problems, and solutions. The photos are of the seminar. I really like the picture of the woman intensely discussing an issue. The final photo is of the leader interviewing participants about a particular problem in our community, which was then broadcast over the short-wave.
The seminar provided insight into using Youtube not for entertainment, but political activism. There were many fine suggestions. The seminar was in the Azeri language. All the people I have mentioned are Azerbaijanis helping build a better country with the help of only a few of our tax dollars.
Every day I go to work and see many young people and adults learning computer basics, using the internet, Microsoft Office, Facebook, and Google for information and communication outside their spheres. I look just above their heads to a sign “This equipment is a gift of the people of the United States of America”, and I am truly moved and grateful.