Voices of the River: Bubukan and Kumarbek

JerSu is a longstanding eco-cultural project of the Adamdar/CA team, dedicated to the key ecosystems and water sources of Central Asia. The project's newest series is devoted to the Naryn river and to the people living on its shores.

Naryn is one of the most important rivers not only for Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where it flows, but for all of Central Asia. Naryn has a powerful influence over the ecology, economy, and agriculture, on the history and modernity of the region, as well as on the formation of the culture, identity, and knowledge of Central Asian nations.

A teacher, Bubukan Makilova, and a ranger, Kumarbek Talipov, live at the very source of the great river Naryn in the Kyrgyz mountains. Bubukan teaches children in the village school. Kumarbek protects the ecosystem, researching local flora and fauna and defending the environment around Naryn's sources from fires and poachers.

Year after year, century after century, the nomadic tribes and peoples of Central Asia, with their countless hordes, migrated to jailoo—to the mountain summer pastures. Every summer, with their children, relatives, and neighbors, Kumarbek and Bubukan, like their nomad ancestors, ascend the green gorges with their herds to their own jailoo.

The family of Bubukan and Kumarbek, and their lives at the source of Naryn, are presented in a photo narrative and short documentary film from the “Voices of the River” series.