Zamir chose the word “Биримдик” (“unity” in Kyrgyz).
He told me that while there is a sense of unity in the slum, it could be a lot better.
The neighbourhood is populated by Kyrgyz and other central Asian ethnic groups, but also by Slavic Russians who stayed after the collapse of the USSR. I was surprised to notice that the Slavic Russians in the slum only speak Russian. And even though many of the Kyrgyz can also speak Russian, there clearly is a language barrier between certain families.
During my time here, I have been seeing Slavic Russian kids playing with central Asian kids and I imagine – and hope – that their generation will move things forwards
