Substandard housing in Kyrgyzstan provides poor protection from extreme temperatures, yet many families remain in these conditions because they cannot afford the total cost of a new house. There is no credit system that would allow payments.

Physician and Engineer Battle for Subsistence in Kyrgyzstan

	Janbolot Beishebaev and his family endured rent increases and overcrowded conditions before becoming Habitat homeowners in 2002.

Between his training as a physician and her experience as an engineer, Janbolot Beishebaev and his wife, Seinegul, used to make a living in the northwest area of Kyrgyzstan. However, after the Soviet Union broke up in the early '90s, the industrial economy underwent upheaval, and Janbolot and Seinegul eventually joined Kyrgyzstan's stream of people moving from rural areas to the capital in search of jobs.

When they arrived in Bishkek, the young family rented a one-room apartment in a four-story building. There was one kitchen on each floor, but the door was often locked and there was no gas, so families usually cooked in their rooms. Each section, made up of four apartments, shared a bathroom, and Janbolot and Seinegul took their two small children to a public steam house for showers and baths because the bathroom lacked a tub.

To earn money for rent, food and clothes, Janbolot worked three jobs for a total monthly salary of about US $100. They saved as much as possible, borrowed some money from relatives and moved into a full apartment in 1996. Once their two children entered kindergarten, Seinegul was able to make about US $80 a month buying goods wholesale and reselling them in a market stall.

For years, the owner of their apartment raised the rent repeatedly. The family absorbed the expense to avoid withdrawing their children from school and incurring the additional costs of searching for new housing. On a month-to-month basis, Janbolot and Seinegul had a little extra income; however, unexpected events and yearly expenses like school fees could significantly stress their budget. Even small expenses, such as medicine for colds and minor illness, cost 450 soms (US $10) each year. A major illness could have been a catastrophe.

Janbolot and Seinegul became Habitat homeowners in the spring of 2002. Their new brick house has three rooms, a reinforced foundation and wood floors and ceilings. The heating system is much appreciated in a region where winter temperatures can plunge well below zero. Since moving in, Janbolot has begun a private practice, and the family looks forward to raising chickens and planting apple trees and strawberries in their small garden. Their no-interest loan lowers their mortgage payment far below what they would pay for a three-bedroom apartment. Their income and expenses have not changed dramatically, but their peace of mind has.

"I hadn't believed that an organization like Habitat could exist and that it could really help us," Janbolot says," but now I live with my family [in] the house built by ourselves with the help of Habitat."

--Reported by Leanne McElroy and Nargiza Kydykova