European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A kazakh woman Waits for her bus to arrive. This old lady tries to earn a Ming in Almaty s relatively new open Market system by Selling seeds on the Street Corner. Continued from Page 15 a plane to this Central asian country. It s going to be the next Kuwait City he predicted. The riches of Kazakhstan consist of immense Oil reserves and vast Mineral deposits. That lucrative combination has transformed the country into a hot spot for Small time entrepreneurs and global corporations. Almaty though does t especially look like a Center of riches a. A ". The International Airport is primitive and poorly organized. In the City beat up vehicles Man Uever along congested pot holed streets. The Gray december skies and wet snowfall contribute to that distinctly soviet run Down look. I m Happy that our country is going to a free Economy remarked Omir  a University graduate with a degree in economics. However the old system communism was better in some ways. Everybody could afford to pay their rent electricity and food. Now people Don t make enough to survive. Times Are Tough for Many he said. Y .".y. By  i to get by Many Almaty residents Are learning the tricks of the fledgling free Market system. Along the streets or in one of the Many outdoor markets vendors resell items they have bought or made. Almaty recently opened its first so called shopping mall. It did so by converting More than 200 sea land freight containers into shops. The . Military left the containers1 for the City s use after shipping $12.5 million Worth of medical equipment from Germany. I Mages of Almaty above a kazakh Man Waits outside his shop to do some business. At right elderly women staff the Snow removal Crews. 16 the stars and stripes � a i  talk. At left a newspaper Vendor reads one of his products As he Waits for customers. Is photos by Carlos Bongioanni above a Stern kazakh police officer keeps the peace on Almaty s streets. At left people flow in and out of Almaty s Central clinical Hospital. Below colourful clothing is among the Folk traditions revived by the kazakhs since they gained their Independence from the soviet Union in 1991. Mondoy december 19,1994 the stars and stripes 17