Tajikistan

Nov is a community in northern Tajikistan that lacked an ade-quate supply of drinking water for its 15,100 residents. Water was available in the community, but its shallow, hand-dug wells were bacteriologically contaminated. To provide their families with clean drinking water, children took time off from school to transport drinking water from remote areas by cart or donkey.

With assistance from USAID‘s Local Development Initiative, the community took action to address their access to drinking water. Read more »

JJumabek Begov’s white beard and wizened eyes indicate a man well beyond his 48 years, yet his energy and passion for productive farming place him on par with the youth of his village. With only one hectare of land (2.47 acres), Begov grows wheat, potatoes, beans, carrots, onions and cabbage. Before the irrigation canal in his village was repaired, however, Begov’s life was very different.

“"Before the irrigation canal, I only grew wheat and a small amount of other crops like potatoes,” Begov explains. Read more »

Before she became involved in the Youth Theater for Peace program, Dilafruz Sattorova was largely indifferent to many of the problems around her. From a rural, remote part of Tajikistan, she lacked confidence and did not feel engaged in her community. Today, she has been promoted to deputy director of her school and mentors youth in conflict prevention skills through two local youth drama clubs established with USAID support.   Read more »

For decades, Tajikistan’s children learned by rote memorization, a teaching method that does not foster critical thinking and is teacher driven.

But, over the past year, the USAID Quality Learning Project has trained 1,000 teachers in a new pedagogy that is child-centered—one that takes into account students’ learning styles and promotes the development of each child. This pedagogy demonstrates that learning is the result of a mind well formed rather than one that serves as a simple repository for data. Read more »

Kurush is one of 40 customs brokerage companies in Tajikistan that has already begun using an automated system to prepare customs declarations, and the positive results are immediately clear.  Kurush Director Shodmon Tagayev explained to staff from USAID’s Regional Trade Liberalization and Customs pro-ject that use of the electronic system has cut the preparation time for a declaration from three hours to three minutes. Read more »

Bibioisha Saidkhojeva sits, needle in hand, surrounded by her colorful labors of love… and economic independence.  Emroidered pillowcases, curtains and meticulously sewn dresses are strewn about the floor as Bibioisha explains the importance of sewing. Read more »

Standing above her greenhouse, Sayonat Hakimnova exudes pride as she shows off her onions, cilantro and dill. In her family’s first greenhouse, she was able to plant these greens two months earlier than usual this year. Read more »