The Other Hundred: Big City Chocolate Company to Kazakh Village Stop-n-Shop
“I'm not a millionaire, but I have a happy family,” said Nurgul Rysbekov, 28, who gave up the lights and bustle of Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, for her hometown of Kegen, where she started its first and only 24-hour convenience store – Dako, named after her sister.
Nurgul studied food technology in Almaty, but after working in a chocolate company for six months, she returned home to Kegen, a small town in southeast Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan.
That was five years ago. Today, Nurgul and her mother, Zeena, take turns working the night shift in her shop. Her father, Nabi, a poet, helps out during the day. Her brother, Almas, is an assistant judge who eats his lunches with her in a small room next to the shop. During coffee breaks, Nurgul and her father practice shooting.
Nurgul hasn’t taken a holiday since she opened her shop. “The people in the town say ‘well done’ to me when they see my young business,” she said. “I like being busy. In the future I hope to have many businesses and many friends.”
The Other Hundred is a not-for-profit photo book by the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT) to provide a counterpoint to the mainstream media consensus about some of today's most important issues. The book introduces readers to the vast majority of people, ideas, places and cultures simply ignored by most major media publications. Through an annual series of books, each focusing on a particular subject, The Other Hundred provides an alternative and refreshing view on everything from people and their homes to performers, chefs and authors.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.