Bektur Stamkulov is a journalist with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.
Jamila Toichubekova, 70, from Kyrgyzstan's northern district of Jumgal, used to work in a shop, but then she got a loan, bought herself a tractor, and built a family business that keeps on growing.
Every spring, hundreds of shepherds and herders across Kyrgyzstan move into mountainous pastures on a long, complex, and often dangerous route. Modern Kyrgyz nomads need to travel higher into the mountains than they did a few years ago in search of greener places to keep their animals.
