Senior Airman Christian Mendez poses for a photo with Maria Ruhlova during lunch with babushkas in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 13, 2011. Babushka is a Russian word meaning grandmother. Members of the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society travel to Bishkek twice a month to spend time with the ladies. Mendez is deployed to the Transit Center at Manas as a 376th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron electrical systems journeyman from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. He is a native of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore) Vera Volf listens to a conversation with members of the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society during lunch in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 13, 2011. MABOS is a private organization providing charitable donations, goods and services to people and organizations in the areas surrounding the Transit Center at Manas. During the lunch the babushkas shared stories with the visiting Airmen and Soldiers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore) Army Spc. Jayna Marks-Rench asks Meerim Kuchukeeva what support the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society can provide to a group of babushkas during lunch in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 13, 2011. Babushka is a Russian word meaning grandmother. Members of MABOS travel to Bishkek twice a month to spend time with the elderly ladies and deliver food, personal-care and other items the ladies need. Marks-Rench is the MABOS vice president and babushka focus group leader. She is deployed to the Transit Center at Manas as a customs official from the Minnesota Army Reserves and is a native of Rochester, Minn. Kuchukeeva is a Transit Center translator. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore) Vera Volf (left) and Mariya Kirichenko talk with members of the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society during lunch in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 13, 2011. MABOS is a private, nonprofit volunteer organization that works with local charities to support the greater Bishkek area and communities near the Transit Center at Manas. During the visits, MABOS members treat a group of elderly ladies to lunch, provide them each with grocery and hygiene items and help them cover some of their prescription costs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore) Photo essay: MABOS bridges generational, cultural boundaries by Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 12/13/2011 - TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- Members of the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society travel to Bishkek twice a month to have lunch with a group of babushkas, a Russian word meaning grandmother. The babushkas are on a limited budget, struggling to make ends meet. During the visits, MABOS members treat the babushkas to lunch, provide them with grocery and hygiene items and help them cover some of their prescription costs. MABOS is a private organization established in 2003 as a means for those deployed to the Transit Center at Manas to provide charitable donations, goods and services to people and organizations in the surrounding area.