"Kantip Bara Alam?" (How do I get there?)

By Spencer Kim, Videographer

Today Kiri and I took a marshrutka (a common mode of public transportation here in Kyrgyzstan, something in between a taxi and a bus) on our own, for the first time.

This is significant, because, it is both of our first times here in Kyrgyzstan—meaning both of us know very, very little language. And, aside from the immediate surroundings of our house, we have absolutely no idea where we are in the city.

For the past two days, we have been travelling comfortably, following the lead of seasoned Kyrgyz-residents, Eugenia and Esther. But today, we had to travel from a Sierra Coffee Shop to our house. I say “a Sierra Coffee Shop,” because I don’t know what area of the city we were in, or what street, or anything really, except that we were at that coffee shop.

We had on a post-it the names of the cross streets that we wanted to reach, which we, obviously, butchered the pronunciation of—sounded something like Akkoombai and Sovietskaya. If we could get dropped off near these streets, we were told we would be able to find our way home.

The thing about marshrutka here in Kyrgyzstan is that there are no designated stops. You can hail it down anywhere and get off anywhere, as long as it’s along the route for the given marshrutka. Kiri and I knew one marshrutka that we rode a couple times before... but, that didn’t really help because we weren’t anywhere near that route.

Mission: Spencer & Kiri, get home!

From the coffee shop, we crossed the street. We knew we had to get on the marshrutka on the other side of the street. Critical thinking: A+! Then, we walked over to an area where people were congregated and waiting to get on a marshrutka. Good! We asked a student for directions: “Salaam. Moshna. Do you speak English?” “*Response in Kyrgyz or Russian?**” “Ok, umm, is marshrutka .. here?” “No. I don’t know.” “Hmm..okay. Which number.. to go this street?” Kyrgyz language: Fail.

It was rough. I couldn’t remember any helpful terms. Everything kept coming to me in Turkish. But, in the end, with the help of nearby locals, we boarded a marshrutka heading towards the street of our house.  

Note to future marshrutka travelers: You have to keep looking out the window to see where you are so you can tell the driver to stop when you need to get off. Along the way, we saw familiar sights like the “Burger King” that’s not really Burger King, the Ramen café, the Turkish park, the corner building  that’s painted like a carrot—so, we had peace of mind, because we were going in the right direction.

But, that peace started to fade away when the marshrutka didn’t turn left at the corner carrot building and kept going straight and the sights started to become more and more unfamiliar. Kiri and I looked at one another and laughed uneasily—unsure of how to react to this sudden turn of event, but we kept our calm, telling ourselves the marshrutka would eventually make another turn.

Usually, on our way home, you can see the mountains in the distance. They’re a lot closer and taller than any mountains back at home, so it’s actually a very new and really beautiful sight.

We sat in the marshrutka until we could see the bottom of the mountains that were always off in the distance. Starting to feel a little antsy, I asked a man sitting nearby. He made hand gestures that seemed to say that the stop is coming up. So, we held onto the hope that this marshrutka was just taking a longer route around. But, when we were the only two sitting in the marshrutka and it kept going away from where we needed to, we asked the driver, “Baike(sir)… Akkoombai and Sovietskaya?” Upon which, he chuckled and pulled his vehicle to the left lane and made a U-turn.

He pulled into what looked like the last stop for marshrutkas and told us to board another marshrutka, heading back to where we had come from. He told the driver where we needed to go. We rode it back and the driver kindly told us when we were at the Akkoombai stop. Rakmat (Thank you)!

From there, we walked in what we reasoned to be the right direction...for quite some time. When things started to look unfamiliar, we decided to turn to Google Maps. Thank you, Google, for pointing us in the right direction. Along the way, we picked up our first самсы (samsu: a triangular bread with fillings, the one we got had chicken and cheese). It was cold so probably not as good as it could be.

When we saw familiar surroundings, we knew where we were. And from there, Kiri and I walked home like pros. 

Mission accomplished. 

Next mission: From home, to the city, and back!

Kettik (Let’s go)!

Puzzle

By Esther Lee, Production Designer

There comes a point in everyone's life when it feels like the puzzle pieces finally begin to come together. This project was that moment for me. It was near the end of my year term as an English volunteer in Kyrgyzstan when I first heard about the project. I was on the phone with Euge when she asked me, "So now that your time there's almost done, what are your next steps?" I did not know. I was even thinking about staying in Kyrgyzstan longer. "Why don't you think about joining the project?," she said. 

The dream that I had as a kid was, "I want to go into Hollywood... because if I can impact Hollywood, I can impact the world." Thus, I ventured into the world of production design, but ended college loving the design aspect, but not really interested in the majority of the stories that were told. So I  ended up putting what I learned on the back burner, and before I knew it, one thing led to another, life happened, and I somehow ended up in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan was like a dream. I had never met such genuine and good-hearted people in my life. A nature-lover at heart, the mountains and landscape of Kyrgyzstan was like food to my soul. I met so many girls there, many of which became very dear to my heart. I had heard about bride kidnapping when I had first arrived, but didn't really understand it. None of my friends had been bride kidnapped, but I heard stories of my friend's mother who had been married before, but was still kidnapped and had no choice but to marry.

Because I had already fallen in love with the country and people, I thought, "Hey, why not?" and joined the project. Then Euge sent me the script, and that was when all the puzzle pieces began to come together. All the hopes and aspirations that I had in college studying production design came to mind, and fit in so perfectly with my heart for Kyrgyzstan. I knew stories were powerful... and what better gift to give to my friends than a story that can speak to their hearts?

Coming back to the States, as I researched more and more into bride kidnapping, and read the quotes of the victims, my heart broke. So many broken families leading to broken sons and daughters, all caught in this endless tradition from generation to generation. It could have been any one of my friends. And I'm sure unbeknownst to me, there is brokenness in many of my friends' families because of this issue. My friends there would always ask me, "Why Kyrgyzstan? Why did you come here?" and my response to them was always "Because no one else does." At this, they would always smile and say, "That explains everything." Nobody really knows about Kyrgyzstan, and because of it, its people never realize their true beauty. My heart is for the girls in Kyrgyzstan to know how valued they are, apart from what bride kidnapping tells them. There is so much hope for the future Kyrgyzstan... even with so much brokenness within, there is so much beauty that lies within the heart of this country, and our team can only hope that Kyrgyzstan would see its own beauty through this film. 

The Adventure Begins!

Written by, Kiri Kim, Production Coordinator

I joined Alya Production Coalition back in June of last year. I had just come back from Tunisia after volunteering a year and 6 months. I was still in college, trying to finish my undergrad. One day, Eugenia called me and shared her awesome stories of her two-year trip to Kyrgyzstan. As she shared the wild adventures she experienced, our conversation on the phone ended with a strong conviction that was on her heart. She shared about an issue that thousands of Kyrgyz women face. Little did I know that this conviction that Eugenia had would soon be my own conviction...

On the phone, Eugenia explained to me about bride kidnapping and how thousands of Kyrgyz women were being abducted and forced to marry a man they’ve never met in their life. Before our call, I had absolutely no idea of this practice. I didn’t even know it existed. I was so shocked to my core! I couldn’t believe that women, in my age (or even younger!), were bride kidnapped.
 

During our call, something was stirring deep within my heart. Her heart, her passion, her conviction, soon became my own. Knowing about bride kidnapping, I knew I had to do something. I may be a nobody, but all I knew was that this had to be done! And beyond the issue of bride kidnapping, I soon realized the hope she has for this country was soon planted in my own heart. 

And as she shared about all of this, Eugenia began to share her heart for the Kyrgyz women. She wanted to be a voice of hope to them, even though it would be small. As she spoke I began to feel my heart race, screaming “YESSSS!” in my mind to everything she was talking about. I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities that this film could bring to so many lives! It was all too beautiful to miss out on.

Before I knew it, I’ve already became a part of this team! Soon after, I packed my bags and moved from Lacey, Washington to Los Angeles, the city of angels, to join the team. I’m a country pumpkin (as my friends would say), and for me to move to a big city like Los Angeles was such an adventure! After 5 months of preparing our departure, TODAY, our team finally purchased our tickets to Kyrgyzstan! We have approximately 9 more days until we leave! Woohooo!

My team and I are so overwhelmed by the support and love from everyone! Thank you everyone- words cannot express how we feel! Thank you for being part of this crazy journey with us! We’ve been waiting and waiting for this day to come, and finally!! We are able to go for two months to prep for pre-production. I can’t wait to see what adventure awaits for us in Kyrgyzstan! Join us, and stay tuned for our webisodes~~ :)

More than a film, it's a letter.

Written by, Eugenia Chung, Producer of Alya Production Coalition

I have a lot of fond memories in Kyrgyzstan from when I was volunteering there for two years.

I remember the first time I had to ride a horse, the first time I tried one of the outdoor bathrooms (ergo a hole in the ground), and the first time I had to go find my friend’s cows from the meadows. I was so confused figuring out which cows belonged to her and which ones belonged to her neighbors. I ended up missing one cow and started to freak out.

Behold, the hole in the ground.

Off to fetch the cows!

As I was hustling around the hills yelling out to the people “Have you seen our cow!??”, everybody just smiled as they strolled down the hills saying, “Don’t worry.” However, I was still panicking thinking to myself, ‘How the heck do I find it?! And how do I know it’s hers!??’ Soon before sundown, the cow showed up at the entrance of the house and just walked in. What a relief it was but at the same time I was so dumbfounded. Somehow they just instinctively know!

These are just one of the many many fun but heart dropping experiences I had. Something was just so beautiful and natural about everything in Kyrgyzstan. I immediately fell in love with the sheer organic-ness of the culture.

Then in the midst of such peace, I began to hear so many stories of women being kidnapped as brides. My heart broke and I wanted to show that there is hope. Thankfully none of my immediate friends during my stay there had encountered this practice. Or so, I thought.

Months ago, I was talking to one of my Kyrgyz friends over video chat. I was excited to show her the progress of the project. She watched the video we made but she slowly fell silent. She hesitated for a moment.. then began to speak with a trembling voice.

“You know, I never told anyone before.. because I was so afraid of being judged.. but I was kidnapped as well a few years ago.”

Found the lost cow!

My mouth dropped open. My heart raced with confusion, agony… shock. She explained in tears how it happened, how she was taken in a car, locked in a room where the women came and tried to convince her to marry. I couldn’t bear to listen to all the details. It was just too painful to hear. But somehow by the luck of the world, she was able to escape before it was too late.

I don't know what it would be like had I never met her, never became friends with her, if she was not able to escape.  I was still in shock.. to think that now this issue was no longer something that I just had a passion for, but now it had a face, a name… a friendship. That was the moment when my heart for this project evolved from just a conviction, to a mission.

My friend looked at me for a moment in silence.. tears dropping from her eyes, then with a soft but empowering voice, she said,

“You have to tell this story. You have to do it for other girls in Kyrgyzstan.”

I looked back at her with my aching heart, and answered, “Okay. I will make this film for you. For all the girls out there.”

She nodded, smiled, and there was a peaceful look on her face. It was as if an open wound was healed after a long time of wrestling. All I could think of at that moment was, ‘I want to see that look in many more girls in Kyrgyzstan.’ The film now no longer was a film in my heart, but evolved to be a letter I want to write to my friend. A letter showing her that regardless of what was done, she is loved.

That wish still rings in my heart till today. As our team draws closer to the day of departure, I reassess my path thus far and I am determined again. There is so much beauty that lies within Kyrgyzstan that needs to be found, that needs to be embraced, and needs to be recognized. And that, can only come when there is a story of hope.

We've Begun!!

Our GoFundMe is officially up!! We've sent out the invites, and we're super excited to see where the waves will take us! Thank you so much to all who have supported us! And we're super pumped seeing our friends and family supporting us via Facebook... (on that note, if you haven't liked our page yet, please do so! :) ) Time to get our adventure shoes on!~