Headline

Kaliyjan Januzakova, who is Kyrgyz, was born in 1928 in the village of Ak Bashat, near Kara Balta, Kyrgyzstan. She was a collective farmer. “When I was married, all I did was grow beets on the farm and selling them in the bazaars or exchange them for other goods. I worked as a collective farmer for 20 years,” she said. Maksat Annamuradov interviewed her in Ak Bashat on March 20, 2009.

I was born into a family of collective farmers. There were seven children in my family and I was the second oldest. My mother was a housewife; she took care of the children and did the household chores. My father was a collective farmer – specifically, he was a cattle breeder. Life in the village was fine. While we were growing up, we helped our parents around the house and on the farm.

I studied in high school for only four years. After that, I had no choice but to help my family, since World War II had started. It’s disappointing, but I have no memory of my time in school, since it was only four years and it was a long time ago. During the war, there were no men in the village, and we – the women – were doing all the duties of the men, like cutting hay on the farms. There was no equipment. Everything was done manually by women.

I remember the Stalin era. Those years were hard and the living conditions were harsh. I think that the war was his responsibility and the human losses were all his fault. I remember when the Turkish people were resettled from the Caucasus to our village [1] – there were around forty families. However, they were not that friendly and our people had several conflicts with them. Now none of them are left, since they were not able to live in our village with Kyrgyz people.

I have married two times, since my first marriage was unsuccessful. My first marriage was strongly based in Kyrgyz culture: I had no choice. My parents found me a husband and I have never saw him before he became my husband. I lived with him for three years. I was 20 years old when I divorced. I married my second husband when I was 27 years old and I lived with him for 50 years. I had 10 children with him: five daughters and five sons, each of whom got a higher education.

When I was married, all I did was grow beets on the farm and sell them in the bazaars or exchange them for other goods. I worked as a collective farmer for 20 years. Also, there was a factory, Kara Balta Sugar, which used the beets to produce sugar. I sold beets to the factory, too. In the evenings, I would take care of the children, wash clothes, and do other chores. On work days, I woke up at 4 a.m., cleaned the house and made breakfast. Then I sent the cattle to the field and, at 7 a.m., the bus came to take us to the fields. I worked for 12 hours each day in the fields. I was honored several times with medals for my good work.

Back then, women had more self-restraint and were more hardworking. Therefore, the women found husbands and had big families and satisfying lives. I did not face problems with raising my children –they are all well-mannered and educated. The secret of having a good, strong family is keeping up a good image of the family in front of the children and showing each other respect and love. Almost everything depends on the parents. My husband and I were examples for our children.

I believe in God, just like almost everybody. I have him in my heart and I negotiate with him when I need him. I consider myself a Muslim, though. But being strongly religious is not for me because in the Soviet times, it was not common to practice Islam or any religion. Those were atheistic times. However one of my sons is religious. He practices Islam, visits the mosque every day and reads namaz [prays].

Also, our family practices some Muslim cultural traditions, as is usual for every household. For instance, before starting dinner, we always pray to God and thank him for his generosity. Or, whenever we have bad times, we pray to God to help us. Nowadays, we also have Muslim holidays. For instance, since the end of the Soviet era, I have celebrated Orozo [Ramadan] for 12 years. In addition, during Kurman Ait, [2] the family cooks various dishes and thanks God with prayers.

During Soviet times, everybody had their own small farms and cattle, which were sources of food for each household. On the collective farms, we had wheat, which was harvested by the whole village. Also, there were sheds where the cattle were held in the winter. One of my sons now owns one of those sheds.

The government had a bigger role in Soviet times. The collective farms and the agricultural system were controlled. The salaries were paid on time. However, now it is different: the government does not control the rural areas and the farms work independently. Now everybody works for his own household. Before, everything was for the government.

I had no free time when I was young. When I had some free time, I would sleep, since I worked the whole day. However, the first of May was a special day for us. It was Labor Day. That day, I went with a lot of other girls to town and celebrated the holiday by watching the parade. Also, when I was young – and several times when I was in my sixties – I went to Lake Issyk-Kul in the summer.

I am a very patriotic person. I love my country and my town. If I ever had the choice to leave my country for some other country, I would not go. It is my home and my family is here. Some of my children work in Bishkek and other towns in Kyrgyzstan and I value this from the perspective that they have not forgotten me. They come on holidays and take care of me.

I love to eat and I love our traditional dishes. During the Soviet times, I remember all we were eating was beshbarmak, which consists of meat and vegetables with pasta. During the war we had a food shortage, but this was later stabilized and then we, in the rural areas, could get everything we wanted to eat. From what I remember, our national dishes have not changed. The vegetables and the meat for the food we cook were taken from our own farms – we have never gone to the bazaars.

I love to read newspapers and follow the events that take place in Kyrgyzstan. Also, I like to read fairytales and tell them to children. I get a pension and I am satisfied with my life.