Living on the margins: Homelessness in Bishkek

A 2011 study on homeless people in Bishkek introduced ins report in this sobering way: “In spite of being a small city with less than a million population, the number of homeless people in Bishkek exceeds 3500 and according to the director of Fountain Jizni an (NGO that supports homeless people) their number s are growing daily. They are mainly internal labour migrants who have come to the capital in search of work. In recent years the numbers of homeless young people and also the older generation who held good jobs in Soviet times have risen. One can see them walking the streets and in the vicinity of garbage bins where they search for plastic and glass bottles, cardboard, and old stuff, including food scraps they can eat. It is possible to see them sleeping or making fires close to garbage bins in cold weather.”

People can become homeless for a number of reasons: unemployment, family break up, alcohol abuse etc. they come from all walks of life and include doctors, Afghan war veterans, former prisoners, artists, singers, lawyers and teachers, the daughter of a parliamentary deputy etc. Nowadays many internal labour migrants are becoming homeless.

This video will give you a small picture of life for the homeless

Pray for those most marginalised by family breakdowns, poverty, economic hardship, unemployment, alcohol abuse. Pray for God’s love to penetrate their brokenness. Pray for those who will be God’s hands and feet and messengers of his love.