A family of migrants gathered a first-grader to a Moscow school for 35,000 rubles

“He has no problems with Russian, but he has problems with Uzbek”

Among the whole army of schoolchildren, fifth-grader Zarina Usmanova and her younger brother Ruslan go to the festive assembly on September 1. He, unlike many weathers, is simply torn “for the first time in the first class.” At home on Knowledge Day, a sweet table will be arranged for this occasion. And pilaf, of course – where would Muscovites come from Uzbekistan without pilaf.

It can be said that the Usmanov family began with the fact that mother Lilia arrived in the Russian capital in 2008. I did not build ambitious plans, I thought to earn money for a computer. Then, already in Moscow, where, as is known from the song, if you make friends, you will never forget each other, Lilia met Alisher. Today, both have been married for a long time and firmly, with a Russian residence permit, they are striving to obtain Russian citizenship. Lilia and Alisher work in very necessary positions. He works as a janitor in the housing and communal services, she “leaves for a day” as a nurse in the maternity hospital of the Center for Family Planning and Reproduction.

– We have a family of 4 people, we came from Uzbekistan, from the city of Andijan, – the mother of the family begins the story in detail. “We used to come and go all the time, but for the last 2-3 years we have been living in Russia without a break. They applied for citizenship and should receive it soon.

The Russian language is a sore point for many visitors to the Russian Federation. Lily’s is wonderful. The children also do not even have a hint of incorrect pronunciation or accent: their parents deliberately sent them to a Russian kindergarten already in Uzbekistan.

“We went to a Russian kindergarten, then to a Russian school,” Lilia lists. – I myself have a Russian grandmother, my mother’s mother. But I did not immediately decide to move here – at first I went to work. And here it turned out to be interesting. Then in Moscow I met my future husband. And together we decided to stay here.

“Children have no problems with Russian — they have problems with Uzbek,” Lilia jokes. Russian sounds all around, and children forget their native language. Although both younger Usmanovs were born and lived small in Uzbekistan: a daughter under 5 years old, a son under 3.

Ruslan and Zarina (an almost Pushkin combination) go to school near their house in southwest Moscow. Walk to it for 7-10 minutes. This year Zarina has a cadet class, so there is no need to buy a uniform, it will be given out at school. The girl is very sociable, “there are girlfriends in the class and girlfriends in the yard.” But the youngest, Ruslan, has no school friends yet and the class is the first. He is very worried and wants to “go beautifully”.

– Yes, it’s expensive to get a child to school, of course, – Lilia shares. – It took 35 thousand for some suits, shoes for my son, for the office and everything else. But how to be? We live for children. Both Alisher and I do everything together, we also go shopping together.

The last time the Usmanovs were in their “historical homeland” was in 2021. “We simply don’t have anyone left there,” Lilia simply explains the lack of nostalgia. So the children, in general, do not need Uzbek, since they “decided to settle here.”

– My mother helped me a lot at first in Moscow and my sister, – Lilia shares. – Now my mother is in the village, my sister also left, but my brother’s wife helps. She does not work and spends the whole day with the children. Zarina was fond of dancing, beading, she took her. Now Ruslan dreams of signing up for football, before that he went to the “preparatory” at school.

“When will I go to a real school?” Ruslan asks impatiently. By modern standards, it’s really amazing, but the boy just dreams about September 1st.

– He likes to study very much, most of all, – mother is proud. – Reads, counts, writes in block letters. He really wants to go to a real school. And the second hot desire he has to communicate as much as possible. Find friends at school.