Etibor, 38, Suratash: "I carry up to 1,000 kg through the border a day"

"I come to a border crossing point at the Suratash village from my home in [the southeastern Uzbek city of] Andijan every morning at around nine. There are about 50 of us, some are girls and others are women in their 50s.

"I carry huge bundles of various goods through the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. Our clients are traders who bring cheap Chinese-made goods to Uzbekistan from the Kyrgyz [border] town of Kara-Suu.

"I used to work for a textile factory in a neighbouring town, but lost my job. My husband is an electrician. He left for Russia to work and provide for us. But he is doing odd jobs there and the money he occasionally sends to us is not enough.

"That's how I became a porter. I have always been in good health, but now I feel very weak and ill. I do not want to go and see the doctor. Who is going to look after my children if they send me to a hospital? I cannot afford that.

"For a bundle weighing 30-40kg they pay us just 500 to 600 Uzbek soms [45 US cents]. It is peanuts.

"We wait for the goods to arrive so we can carry them to the Uzbek side of the border. First traders start to arrive with their bags and bundles. We female porters rush to a car with traders and offer our services, trying to outpace others.

"The traders choose one or two lucky ones. The rest wait for the next car. Then the whole thing is repeated.

"I am lucky: a trader wants someone to carry several Chinese-made television sets through the border to the Uzbek side. It is not heavy for me; a sack of cement is much heavier.

"It is cold and the road is slippery, but I try hard to get the sack with television sets through the 200-metre path as quick as I can. My income depends on how fast I move back and forth. But it is not a problem, the problem is Uzbek and Kyrgyz border guards who always extort money from me.

"I pass through the border carrying goods 10 to 12 times a day. In one day, sometimes I carry about 1,000kg of goods.

"I can make from 4,000 to 5,000 Uzbek soms [between $3 and $4] when there are a lot of customers. But a kilo of meat costs the same. All the money I make we spend on food. Apart from food, I need to buy clothes and other things for my five children. My eldest son is 15, while the rest of my children are all under 10.

"When it gets dark there are almost no customers left and I head back home. I arrive at about 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sometimes, I almost crawl to the door because I am tired and my whole body aches – my back, legs and arms … I need to cook for my children or wash their laundry."

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