Posts Tagged "Dungan"
Ramzan: Dungan Farmer
KYRGYZ COUNTRYSIDE: ''I took my child into the field with me from the age of 6 months because there was no one to leave him with. The baby would lie next to us as we worked,'' said Ramzan, 35, a father of three children. Like many Dungan people, Ramzan is a farmer. ''I wanted a higher education, but I was one of many children and our financial situation didn't allow it. I want to them [children] first a Muslim education and then a higher education. Even if they will work in the fields, if they have a higher education, they will think differently and work better in the fields.''
Dungan Fruit Seller
BISHKEK: "It is rare that someone [among Dungan people] enters university. Almost all of them work in the fields," said this 52 year-old Dungan woman, who was selling fruit along a major road on the outskirts of Bishkek with about 10 other Dungan people. Dungan people are Muslims of Chinese origin living in Kyrgyzstan and other former Soviet republics. Tents cover these Dungan and their fruit from the hot summer sun. They can rest on beds when their are no clients. "Children also help with the fruit and vegetables" during their vacations, she said. "I watered onion plants during my childhood."
