This week on 15th of November, magazine
Steppe devoted to Central Asia and topics related to this region, has made announcement about publication of a book about Pamir which is located in
Wakhan corridor of
Afghanistan. The book tells about land and Kyrgyz people who have been living in Pamir for decades. It contains not only stories, but also numerous photos of landscape and people. The photos are very impressive and convey messages about these people's lives. The authors of book are
Matthieu Paley, Marielle Paley and
Edward Callahan. As
Steppe writes, they are committed to their work and have been documenting lives of Pamir Kyrgyz for ten years. At present the book is available in French and German languages. Hopefully, soon authors are planning to translate it into English also. Below you may see some photos taken from official website of the book.
People living in Pamir are often highlighted in news of Kyrgyzstan. Since gaining independence, Kyrgyz government has been considering returning them back to their home country. So far the goal has not been reached yet, as the process requires lots of time and finances. Most of research and news about Kyrgyz people living in Pamir, inform about harsh living conditions and high mortality rate among them. For example,
according to Ulugbek Babkulov and his colleague,
Egamberdi Kabulov who have been in Pamir few months back, most of babies who are born are dying due to absence of medical facilities and good living conditions. In addition to this, level of literacy among people is also degrading year by year as there are few schools which are located far from their places of living. Certainly, this does not mean that this is fault of state and it should bear responsibility for these issues, however people living in Pamir need help...does not matter from where it will come. To learn more about the book, you may visit the website provided below, it is available in French, German and English languages:
http://www.ayferaytac.com/tum-makaleler/310
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