Geography of Destiny
Author: Marina Kochetova
Even Aristotle claimed that the meaning of life is to serve others and do good. This is the rule my hero follows today—an extraordinary person with a unique geography of destiny. His name is Askar Umarbekov, a Russian-speaking Kazakh who was born and raised in the capital of Uzbekistan and now lives in Ottawa. At 50, having spent 29 of those years working within the Red Cross system, he has traveled half the world, leaving his distinctive mark everywhere he has managed to go.
The ability to balance his own life and help others balance theirs is a rare quality that Askar possesses. At birth he received a victorious name, one he justifies every day through his actions. He is the maker of his own happiness. And happiness, after all, is far from constant—there are no one-hundred-percent guarantees. It is not enough to find one’s happiness, that is, to create it; you must also protect it! And this does not mean minimizing risk. On the contrary. Askar’s life is not simply full—it overflows with people, events, information… He is constantly improving himself, learning something new, never stopping at what he has achieved, always moving forward. That is where he sees happiness.
From childhood he was surrounded by music thanks to his mother and sister, who loved to play the piano and would periodically host musical evenings for friends and relatives. Askar began taking his first piano lessons only a few years ago, already in Canada. In his youth, he mastered the bayan (button accordion) and classical guitar. He loves opera and bard songs, classical music and rock.
As a child he collected stamps featuring reproductions of paintings by Aivazovsky, Shishkin, Repin, Kramskoy… And to this day, works by Russian painters continue to inspire him. He has not yet practiced visual art himself, but he adores contemplating masterpieces of painting.
As a rule, admirers of music and painting are not indifferent to poetry. Askar is no exception. The greatest influence on his personality came from the works of Robert Burns, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Anna Akhmatova. Recently, he has begun writing poetry himself. In prose he prefers S. Dovlatov, though he considers The Master and Margarita by M. Bulgakov his favorite literary work.
Born into an интеллигент family (his mother is a physician, the chief nephrologist of Uzbekistan; his father is a linguist and polyglot who mastered nine languages), Askar showed an inquisitive mind and curiosity from early childhood. Therefore, after receiving his school-leaving certificate, he enrolled simultaneously in two universities (the International Institute of Business Management and Law, as well as medical school). But a year later he decided to change direction and entered the University of World Languages in the English philology department, after which he successfully completed a master’s program at an economic university. All of this was in his native Uzbekistan. There, after becoming a certified specialist and working for three years at a pharmaceutical company, Askar took a risk, tried himself as a translator, and began working at the International Office of the Red Cross in Tashkent. The risk proved justified and not in vain. It seems the Red Cross has bound Askar’s life forever.
At present he is one of the top national-level managers, overseeing Europe. Before that he was Director for the African region. Initially, his peacekeeping work was connected with Central Asia. Since 2001 he has served in humanitarian missions in Congo, Sri Lanka, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and later at Headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland). After that he took the post of Head of the Red Cross in Algeria—and from Algeria he moved to Canada.
At one time, to spend a year in the Republic of Congo as a so-called delegate (the first step on the Red Cross career ladder), it was necessary to successfully complete a standard training course in Geneva, and before that—tests whose requirements implied proficiency not only in English, but also in French. There was not much time to learn French, but lessons with a private tutor and an intensive course—requiring a flight to Paris—helped him acquire the needed language skills in a compressed timeframe. This was aided by a genetically rooted aptitude for learning languages, a philological foundation gained at university, and, of course, an astonishing determination multiplied by the desire to tirelessly master new knowledge.
In addition to the courses and educational institutions listed above, Askar also managed to successfully complete specialized studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, the University of Lucerne (Switzerland), Bocconi University (Italy), and the University of the Province of Alberta in Canada! How is that possible? Through part-time and online study. It is hard to believe that diplomas and certificates—and most importantly, invaluable knowledge—at all the named universities were obtained by the same person! And this is not the limit for him.
The relief of Askar’s life path is so diverse that one could study geography by his example. Plains and mountains, deserts and forests alternate in his life—both literally and figuratively. Even a brief account of certain details from A. Umarbekov’s life would make for a gripping adventure thriller that could seriously contend for an Oscar! There would not be enough fingers to recount all the stories! And Askar, like a brave hero from a fairy tale, each time emerges with honor from any trial. Among other things, he practices karate and holds a black belt; he plays football virtuously (last season he received the trophy for best player in the local league); he parachutes skillfully and holds a parachutist certificate; he plays tennis, chess, and bowling fairly well; he is an active participant in the popular intellectual game “Power of Thought,” and a vocalist and guitarist in a music band… Do you know even one more person who could compete with Askar on equal terms?!
Among mountains and valleys in the life of the multifaceted Askar, many peaks have already been conquered—the main one being genuine love for people and loyalty to his chosen cause. By the way, Askar likes Canada precisely because the Russian-speaking community here is wonderful.