Opportunities to be of help abound. To be an effective caregiver, one should recognize
the limit of one’s resources, and focus on where limited application of resources can have maximum positive impact.
For us, Tajikistan in Central Asia is such a place, and our years of experience with an orphanage, is a sobering “reality
check”.
Objective:
Provide education opportunities
to a future generation, so they, in turn, can improve their communities in due course – many times over!
Challenge:
This is a long-term commitment.
It is about opening doors, and keeping them open.
In dire economic conditions, children, especially orphans and the very poor, are among those who suffer
first and foremost. Tajikistan has fallen on economic hard times. Our humanitarian efforts
are focused on the needs and long-term wellbeing of Tajik children.
Portions of our journey, enroute to China, will take us through Tajik lands. Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Tajik are people whose heritage goes back to pre-historic times.
Their language, Tajik, is Indo-European. Most recently they were a Republic of the Soviet Union
for a good part of the 20th century. Their features are, to Westerner’s eyes, a mix of
European and Oriental/Asian.
Their
population is far more educated than similar economically hard-pressed nations. It seems, with some
focused help, positive results can be significant.
This is a landlocked country of about 6 million people. Nature has rewarded the country
with beautiful landscape. Most of the country is glacial. In fact the world’s
largest glacier, besides the N and S pole area, is in Tajikistan. The mountain scenery is compared to the
Alps. The potential for eco-tourism is tremendous. It is a heaven for trekkers. Unfortunately
the county lacks infrastructure to support a vibrant eco-tourism. Their capital is Dushanbe (which
means two days after Sabbath, Monday!)
