I am a student, studying in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The lockdown due to COVID-19 has made our lives very difficult. We are all alone here with no one to guide us or take care of us.
We are running short of food and other essentials. Whenever we call our management to complain about food shortage, they ask us to eat bread and chocolate.
We are scared of the prevailing situation. There is a rise in the number of cases and the healthcare system is not very efficient.
There are many Indians studying in different universities across Kyrgyzstan, but mainly in Bishkek, Osh, Jalal-Abad.
The vice dean of our university flew back to India as the condition got worse and he didn’t think about us – his students – at all.
‘We Cannot Afford to Pay Rent Here’
People who live in hostels have enough food for consumption but the students who live in independent flats have to pay high rent. But we cannot afford it right now, it has become difficult for our parents to send us money as India too is under COVID-19 lockdown.
The landlords want their rent on the first of every month and have told us that if we fail to pay it, we will have to leave our houses and look for another roof to stay under and in this current situation, it isn’t easy to find a new place.
We do not have a home delivery system in our area so we have to venture out for daily groceries but whenever we go out, language act as a barrier.
We are not fluent in Russian and it is manageable, but not every time. The coronavirus pandemic has made it all the more difficult because whenever we have to step out to buy anything we are required to carry our passports. We were not aware of this change in rules and our university didn’t inform us about it either.
It was only after a few days that the university sent a letter saying we need to carry our passports each time we step out of our homes.
‘Want to Return Home’
I just want our Indian government to evacuate us. It’s a request from all the Indian students stuck in Krygyzstan to save us and bring us back to our country as soon as possible before the situation gets any worse.
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