Our Stories

Celebrating Accomplishment

Altyn and Nazokat were thankful they at least had each other. The sisters having cerebral palsy meant that they couldn’t do all the things other children do in Kyrgyzstan, but their grandparents had given them a good home and some life skills. However, when the girls’ grandmother died, their aging grandfather couldn’t care for them, […]

Lives Changing

In June, CDI Bishkek’s Women’s Community Health Education team completed their first set of seven health lessons in a village one hour outside of Bishkek. This weekly training set covered topics such as healthy pregnancy, pregnancy nutrition, menopause, and other women’s health issues. While the physical health lessons were helpful, most of the participants found […]

Everybody Gains!

In April of 2016 the CDI Bishkek office started up our women’s community health education project. We were able to hire two trainers. One of our trainers is experienced, having come from our Jalalabad office, but our other trainer was hired brand new with no previous experience. She is a very sweet lady, but very […]

Hope for Efficient Homes

A village outside of Bishkek benefited from a 4 week Home Efficiency Training seminar. Over the course of 4 weeks the Bishkek CDI Technology Team taught men and women how to keep their houses warm in the winter. Topics covered coal burning stoves, efficient windows and doors, insulation and solar powered hot air heaters. The […]

Creativity at Camp

Summer camp. The words elicit images of campfires, swimming pools, and group games. For Americans another word associated with camps is CRAFTS. In the former USSR, however, creativity is not such a foundational part of that week at camp in the summer. This is where CDI’s Creativity Project is stepping in. Project staff have had […]

Art in the Park

On May 20 of this year, Jalal-abad residents taking a stroll in the park saw something out of the ordinary. Artwork hung from cords strung between lampposts. The CDI Creativity Project presented “Art in the Park.” In addition to work by 6 or 7 of the project’s students, 3 or 4 local artists displayed their […]

Celebrating Health

The Home Health course provided by the Jalal-abad office of CDI in the village of Arkalyk recently wrapped up with a big celebration. Office director Ron Manila attended the celebration. The event began with participants and trainers seated around a traditional Kyrgyz dasturkan, or tablecloth, covered with salads, breads, and sweet. CDI staff invited the participants to […]

Test Day Jitters

Fatima was less nervous the second time. She wasn’t thrilled that she had to do an oral exam after every four lessons on the home health course. But that was a requirement to complete the course and get the book Where There is No Doctor, in her own language—not Russian! She really wanted that book, […]

Joint Project for Boys

For young men growing up in villages in Central Asia, answers to questions about their blossoming sexuality are hard to find. Young people don’t feel comfortable discussing such matters with their parents. That vacuum leaves teen-agers to find answers in the movies and from other poorly informed young people. CDI began addressing this lack some […]

A Big Hit in Jalalabad

This time we’re introducing a new project in a new area. Floor hockey has come to Jalal-abad. While people all over Kyrgyzstan have always played football (soccer), this sport recently imported from Switzerland is developing teamwork and leadership in schools and neighborhoods in Jalal-abad. Floor hockey, which is played on an indoor field, uses hockey […]

The Difference Food Makes

In the tiny village called “Say Baz” in Southern Kyrgyzstan, Nurgul is struggling every day to keep her blood pressure normal. She recently found out that her husband has diabetes. She has to wonder if it has anything to do with her cooking since 90% of the meals she makes involve frying, carbs, and red […]

Food Education for Health

After much discussion back and forth the group finished moving our food pictures into the three groups and we looked at each group of foods in turn. Overall they did a good job, only a few items in the wrong category. We corrected these with an explanation of how those foods affect blood sugar levels. […]

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