Andijan was another important stopping point for Silk Road Caravans from Kashgar heading towards Khojand. It's wealth however since those days has dwindled as has its importance. During the Soviet Union, Andijan was separated from its historical region when the present borders were created, dividing Ferghana Valley between three separate Soviet republics with Andijan denoted part of the Uzbek SSR. Of course such borders did not make a great deal of difference during the Soviet period, as the entire region was (poorly) developed to grow cash crops such as cotton and silk.

But it was in the 1990s that Andijan and the surrounding region became much more unstable. Poverty and an increase in Islamic fundamentalism produced tensions in the region which resulted in riots in Andijan in April 1990. Unfortunately the region suffered a severe economic decline after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Repeated border closures have badly damaged the local economyand increased the region's poverty. Recent troubels date back to May 2003 when a local man named Azizbek Karimov was arrested and accused of carrying out terrorist bombings on behalf of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. He was convicted and executed in April 2004.

Last year (May 2005) what started out as a peaceful protest against the Uzbek government turned violent when some seized control of the prison and the regional administration building in Andijan. The protesters wanted legal charges dropped against men accused of being Islamic extremists. Since then Andijan has been out of bounds to many foreigners, journalists and an increasing number of NGOs (especially local ones) have been closed. I was unsure as to whether I would be allowed into the region especially to visit Mercy Corps but the military road blocks didn't stop my shared taxi as I approached the city and so I made it to the Mercy Corps offices.

The work here is focused on the Peacful Communities Initiative, that tries to get community members together and promote inter community harmony and help. In this way it tries to involve members of the community at all levels to come together and work for the community's development so as to involve the residents in decision making and prevent tensions flaring up in these often mixed communities. The fact that the borders with Kyrgyzstan have been closed mean that Mercy Corps' programme has had to change slightly as it can only focus on the Uzbek communities. Still it has strived to help communities identify and solve their own problems by implementing some infrastructure and social changes. Whereas communities once were isolated, they are now interacting more freely and a number of social events and projects have made the future brighter as well as leaving a sustainable path for development.

My arrival has been big news for the community and they turn out in their numbers to answer my questions and ask me some too! Normally these relate to football what with the world cup just round the corner, but it provides a real insight into just how committed the communities are to provide a safer, more peaceful and proseprous future. A large tea has been laid on for us and we are offered everything from wine to watermelons. The villagers want me to stay a few days and if I wasn't on such a tight schedule with my visa I would have loved to. As is so often the case, it has been those with the least that offer the most and I am deeply touched by their generosity.

Returning to Andijan I try to check into a hotel, but this doesn't seem possible. Foreigners are not allowed to stay in Andijan and I certainly don't want to raise suspicion, especially as it may implicate Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps currently have a good relationship with the government and it's not something I want to ruin. So I find myself taking another shared taxi back to Ferghana and spend the night there, only to return tomorrrow morning again to Andijan!

Meeting one of the local communities in the Peaceful Communities Initiative of Mercy Corps.