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Abidjan Yuldashov, who is Uzbek, was born in 1935 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. He went to work in a mine at the age of 14 and worked there as a miner and driver until he lost his sight at 50. “I wouldn’t wish blindness on anyone,” he said. Rayhon Jonbekova interviewed him in Navoi Park in Osh on March 10, 2009.

My parents are Uzbeks from the city of Osh. They were bays – rich people. My father was a blacksmith and he owned a lot of land. My parents willingly gave their land and horses to the government and left their fingerprints on the documents as their signatures. I still have those documents at home, but they are not necessary anymore.

I was born in 1935, but I got my passport two years later. So in my passport I was born in 1937. In my early childhood, we moved a lot. We didn’t have anything. For lack of resources, during the war, we had to sell our house. Then we moved to Toshkumir and later came back to Osh again. My mother was alone. I was the smallest child in the family. My older brother was taken to the war and there was no one to take care of us.

There was no opportunity for me to go to school. After finishing the fourth grade, I went to work in the mine. Later, I went to evening school in Osh. It was accelerated education. I finished seven grades, just by visiting evening school. I didn’t have shoes or many clothes. At school, we were sitting hungry and cold. We wanted to eat, but the instructor was asking us to learn and repeat. After the war, life continued to be difficult.

In Toshkumir I had to go to work in the mine when I was 14. At that time, no one asked for documents and I didn’t have them anyway. After working for two years, I was asked to bring my documents. I received a salary, so I could get my passport and the other I needed. The work in the mine was hard. Not just men and children, but even women worked there. It was a harsh time. Mining is not an easy job.

Child labor was acceptable those days. In the mine, I worked with older guys. Back then, people were very sensitive and cared about each other. I got the same salary as others, but they always pitied me and gave me easy work. “Bring us water,” they would tell me.

I worked with Russians, Chechens, Tatars, Kyrgyz, and international people. We never paid attention to nationalism. We were all equal and friendly. In the mine, I learned many languages. The number of Kyrgyz and Uzbeks was low in the mine. Mainly Russians and Tatars worked there. So I speak Tatar very well. When I speak Tatar, no one believes that I am Uzbek.

Once, while working in the mine, I was trapped in a collapse and hospitalized in Osh. After my treatment, I felt better and went back to work. I said that I was not injured anymore and got my job back. I worked as an excavator driver until I lost my sight. When I first became a driver, after working the mine, I thought that driving was also a hard job, but then it turned out to be easy.

I was about 50 years old when I lost my sight. After becoming blind, I never worked again. I lost my sight probably because of all the work I did when I was a child. It has already been 24 years. I lost it quickly. It happened like this: I was driving and another vehicle was coming the other way. He stopped, but I continued to drive and I hit him. He brought me water and asked whether I was drunk. But I never drink. I told him that for some reason I couldn’t see – and he didn’t believe me. Later, I got two operations on my eyes but it didn’t help bring back my sight.

Without my eyesight, it is difficult to wash myself and doing other things. When a person is lame, it still easy, but without eyesight, it is terrible. I would not even wish this on my enemy. I cannot see light. I cannot determine what is beautiful and what is not. When my wife gives me something to eat, I can’t see what it looks like. I wouldn’t wish blindness on anyone.

Being young is very good, but when one becomes older, he is not needed that much. When a person is blind, it seems that he is a burden. The best years in life are from 18 to 55. In this period, one is very energetic. Later, one becomes tired easily.

I worked a lot in life, because I had many children. My first wife died 15 years ago. She got ill and died. She gave birth to 15 children. Three of them died in early childhood. She didn’t work because she had lots of work to do at home. She always had to feed our children, cook, wash, and clean. Women’s work is endless – it is hard even with just one child. Some men don’t value women’s work around the house, but they would never be able to do it themselves. When my wife died, four of my children were still small. I taught them everything.

For about six years, I have been living with another woman. She is 40 years younger than me, but she is ill. I help her by calming her down and she helps me with everything from cooking to washing. I give her her medicines on time. I think a family is happy and healthy when a wife and a husband support each other. [My second wife] is an orphan. She had a difficult life. She was often beaten by her first husband. She has one child. Sometimes I send her child to visit my daughters – otherwise he would be bored being with us all the time.

It is hard these days to find a job here. Everything is expensive. There is a lack of iron and construction materials. During the Soviet period, we had everything. Everything was available and sufficient. People say we fed Russia. It is Russia who fed and saved us. People didn’t understand how Russia helped us to develop. Now we have become independent and nothing is available for ordinary citizens.

Before, when I become an invalid, everything was available for me. I would go to the government offices and they would listen to me, ask what I needed, and help me. We were given three tons of coal and wood. Nowadays, nothing is available for invalids and pensioners.

During Khrushchev era, life was difficult. He probably wanted to build democracy, but people didn’t understand at first. When they understood, they got rid of him. During the Brezhnev era, life was good. Everything was cheap, starting with sausages, etc. Now, only rich people eat sausages. I for example, near the bazaar, smell it and pass by, because I don’t have money. Before, I could buy 14 sacks of flour on my salary.

From one perspective, things are good now: the people have gotten their independence. They can pray if they want to, and they can do whatever they want. It is good. The rich can buy cars and they can even own planes. In our times, everything was checked by the government: “Did we really earn that money or not?”

I have 12 children. My children, thanks to God, do not use drugs or alcohol, and they are not thieves. My children do not live here, but I am not mad at them, because, there are no jobs in Kyrgyzstan right now, so they had to leave. My daughters are living in Uzbekistan with their husbands. Just one is living in Kyrgyzstan. But my children come visit on holidays. My children help me, which is good because it would be hard to live by relying on my pension. My oldest daughter is 49. I have grandchildren and great-grand children. I visit them sometimes. But, although they care for me in my old age, I like living here in my apartment more.

Nowadays, the government itself is poor. There are many rich people of course, but for the invalids and pensioners like me, life is very difficult. Still, we are surviving. The main things in my life are that the sky is blue, the water is clean and the sun is shining, which is very good.