Update on “the boy who shakes my hand”
A few people have asked me to get a picture of the “boy who shakes my hand” from a previous post. You’ll recall he’s the little boy who always runs up to me to shake my hand. He calls me “Akkai Hello” (Brother Hello) because all the neighborhood children flock around me and say “hello! hello!” to me whenever they see me (it’s the only English word they know).
I finally managed to take Mohamedjon’s picture. Here are some more pictures of him – my mom sent him some Montreal Canadiens gloves, which he seemed happy to get (he tore off the tag, put them on, and ran off promptly).
The shopkeeper and his new language disc
Today (Dec. 13, 2009) I paid a visit to the shopkeeper from whom I often buy bottled water. A few days before, I had given him an English language learning DVD (for Russian speakers). Not having access to such materials locally, I was able to find the disc’s content on the internet. Yes, I realize the copyright issues involved, but I’ve devised a sound rationale for my actions: My Tajik neighbours are far from wealthy. What they lack in material possessions, many of them make up for with a remarkable thirst for knowledge. However, due to both price and availability, English language learning materials are quite dear to them. If I can access these materials and distribute them to co-workers, friends, shopkeepers, etc. what’s the harm? They would have never been able to afford them in any case – a good quality English language DVD could cost upwards of 2-3 months’ salary.
The shopkeeper had been asking me for months to find him a DVD to help him learn English. I’ve always been impressed by his desire to learn, and his command of several other languages. So, I had promised him that I would find him a DVD as soon as possible. Today, I asked the shopkeeper whether or not the DVD I had given him worked well. He told me that it worked well enough, but that his house lacks consistent electricity. After so many months of promises, and after coming through for him, he was still being held back by circumstances beyond his control.
Car accidents in Kulob
The walk back to work from the bazaar takes me past Kulob’s biggest intersection, the same one that separates home from work (see previous post here). I dread crossing it multiple times a day. On December 12, passing by it and not through it, I heard the screech of a car coming to a quick stop. I noticed somebody limping behind the car, out of my line of sight. The car driver and passenger got out of the car to investigate, and a somewhat heated conversation ensued. It appeared as though a small boy – of no more than 6 or 7 years old – had been walking across the street with an older man (presumably his grandfather) when he was hit. The boy seemed uninjured, reducing tensions.
The number of car-related accidents I’ve witness in Tajikistan (and at this intersection in particular) is striking. I can’t even remember seeing one back home (thank God). Off the top of my head, I can’t count over 5 here in Tajikistan.
Later that evening, following a Saturday spent at work, I began walking home with Gulmorod (I had been invited for dinner). With rain falling on a darkened Somoni Street, we witnessed yet another car accident. What caught my attention this time – apart from the screech of the braking car – was the loud thud of the car hitting a pedestrian. I looked in the direction of the accident just as it happened. While crossing Somoni Street – at a pedestrian cross walk – the pedestrian was hit hard on the left side of his body. He fell, but surprisingly managed to get up quickly and walk to the sidewalk with no obvious injury. Gulmorod and I stopped to see if anyone needed help. By that time, the car had pulled over and the driver was about to discuss the matter with his near-victim.
Gulmorod and I walked to his house, and I made sure to keep extra distance between myself and every passing car from that point on.
Case study in Shuroobod
On Dec. 11 and 12, 2009, I visited Sari Chashma in Shuroobod district. See pictures here.
I, along with the other MSDSP staff, was there to produce a case study regarding the introduction of drip irrigation technology to local agricultural practices. Drip irrigation permits farmers to grow crops on lands that have traditionally been difficult to farm; in this case, it has been applied to slope lands, which are quite common in Shuroobod. Drip irrigation technology also helps farmers to conserve water, but it requires significant financial input at the outset of a project.
Case study in Muminobod
On Dec. 8 and 9, 2009 I visited Muminobod district to conduct a case study on an MSDSP enterprise development project. See pictures here.
I, along with another MSDSP staff member, attended a village organization meeting the morning of Dec. 8. It was unrelated to the case study, but, since we were in the area, we felt it would be good to pay a visit. The meeting’s purpose was to identify the village’s development priorities. Villagers first spoke about the challenges they face, then a vote was taken to decide how some funding (which they had recently been offered by an international development organization) would be spent.
In order to complete the case study, MSDSP staff and I visited beneficiaries, local experts, and other for interviews. The Business Development Centre is the product of 3 years of MSDSP support and funding. It’s an interesting project, and seems, from my perspective, to have helped people become small business entrepreneurs successfully.
A trip to Panjakent
I took a trip to Panjakent in early November (7,8) 2009 with Ninoska and Rafik, two Canadian friends of mine who also work for the Aga Khan Development Network. See the pictures here. Panjakent is known for being one of the stops on the ancient Silk Road.
The trip to Panjakent takes about 5 hours by road under normal conditions. However, as soon as we left Dushanbe heading north, we encountered increasingly heavy snow. This didn’t stop us, however, and we made the journey in about 6 hours. We didn’t stay long, but we still managed to visit Old Panjakent (the site of ruins dating back to the Silk Road days), re-enact some silk trading, and hike around the area around 7 lakes (it was quite foggy).
It has taken me a while to update this blog, due in large part to being busy at work and the post-fellowship job hunt. I’ll be playing catch-up for the next few posts, which should cover developments up to early February.
Potentia
It’s been a while since my last posting. My apologies for the delay. Much has been happening in the last few weeks, and I’ll be sure to retroactively post everything when I get a few free minutes.
In the meantime, here is a link to Potentia, the Graduate Student Journal of the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) at the University of Ottawa. The Journal’s purpose is to collect and disseminate the very best international policy research produced by graduate students at the University of Ottawa. It is bilingual and multidisciplinary, seeking to promote the best graduate student research, beyond linguistic and disciplinary boundaries.
I worked at CIPS for the final year of my master’s degree, and it was a great experience. While there, I noticed that there was a growing amount of international policy-related academic work being done by graduate students from across the University. At the time, there was no established way for them to share it between themselves, the University’s academic community, and international policy communities. So, with the guidance and support of CIPS’ director, Roland Paris, I helped put together a bilingual, multidisciplinary team of graduate students to establish the Journal and get it off its feet. We collected a large number of submissions, spend hours evaluating them, and dealt with many of the questions first-time academic Journal editors face. In the end, we have a finished product that we can all be very proud of. We hope that Potentia becomes a focal point of future international policy research at the graduate level.
The project began in October 2008 and has been a part of my extra-curricular life ever since, so I am both happy and sad to see my current involvement come to an end. Potentia is the culmination of a large team’s efforts. Without the team, the none of this would not have been possible. Their contributions are listed in the Journal. Most noteworthy has been that of Kady Seguin, my co-editor. Kady stepped into the void I created when I left for Tajikistan and she has done an incredible job. I’ve continued to be involved with the Journal while in Tajikistan, but it has been Kady who has made everything happen these last months. We are both happy to hand the reins over to two new co-editors, Meghan and Nathan, who will undoubtedly take the Journal to new heights. To you from failing hands we throw the torch…
Power outage(s)
I’m told that Kulob experiences more power outages than most parts of Tajikistan, and that the problem is particularly bad in winter. Throughout the summer, the power would cut out once or twice a day, but would generally return within a few minutes (or at worse an hour or two). Nowadays, the power (and thus internet) usually cuts out mid-morning. At work, we typically use a generator for the rest of the day, which tends to work well. General power usually returns by later afternoon or early evening.
At home however, I’ve had a particular issue. My building seems to be on the same power grid as my office. However, until this morning (Sunday, November 1), I hadn’t had power for 5 or 6 days. This has meant to light, cooking, showers (or standing boiled-water baths, to be more accurate). Nonetheless, my neighbours had power throughout this time, meaning that my particular apartment was the problem. After some half-hearted attempts by my landlord’s son and landlord over the last couple of days, they finally brought in an electrician Sunday morning. Within minutes, they’d created a new connection from the main apartment building’s power to my apartment.
This is the box of wires outside my apartment (pictures). Most of the time I’ve been able to fix problem by making sure both wires into my apartment are re-connected (when they disconnect, which happens a lot, power is cut). My neighbour, Nizola, has been quite helpful with this. She would often fearlessly reach into the box of wires barehanded to reconnect my power. Sparks would fly but she would avoid electrocution each time (I’m told that Kulobis are particularly good with fixing electrical problems, because they deal with them so often). However, my recent power issues required an electrician and I’m glad they’re finally solved (for now).
12+ weddings and 1 funeral
As discussed previously, I’ve been to many weddings in Tajikistan. The common denominator at all Tajik weddings is guests eating together. There usually isn’t much ceremony to it, save for a prayer after the meal (and sometimes before).
Gulmorod, my co-worker at MSDSP, recently had a death in the family. It was one of his older sisters (Gulmorod is youngest of 7 children and the only son). Two nights before her death – Saturday – I visited Gulmorod’s house (where she was staying with her daughter) because her daughter wanted to take pictures with my camera.
I left on Monday for Khorog (see previous post). When I got back on Wednesday, I was told that Gulmorod`s sister had passed away. On Friday, Gulmorod invited the men of MSDSP to his house for lunch. I believe it was a type of wake. There wasn’t much formality to it. It was a meal attended by about 50 men. I saw Gulmorod’s deceased sister’s daughter – the one who had wanted to take pictures on Saturday night – she seemed to be in good spirits, as were most people there.
Khorog – not easy to get to
On Monday, Oct. 26 I left Kulob for Dushanbe, where I would spend the night before leaving for Khorog (in the Pamir mountains in eastern Tajikistan) by helicopter the next morning. Not only was I incredibly excited to see my fellow Canadians in Khorog (not to mention Khorog itself, which I’m told is beautiful), but I was really looking forward to travelling there by helicopter. Pictures.
I arrived at Dushanbe’s airport very early Tuesday morning and waited for the helicopter to board. Finally, at around 9:30 a.m., the helicopter was ready. I and the other passengers took an airport shuttle to the landing pad. This 2 minute drive took us past another helicopter that looked somewhat worse for wear, as well as some Tajik Air planes that had seen better days. We got to the helicopter, loaded our baggage (we were allowed a maximum of 15 kg each – I came in at 14 kg) and boarded the helicopter. I made sure to get a forward-facing window seat on the right side, so as to see the mountains in Afghanistan through my window.
The pilot briefed us on safety procedures, etc. and told us that the weather that day looked “bad,” but that we would try to fly anyway. This wasn’t very reassuring, but the combination of fear and excitement was fun. We all buckled up and prepared for takeoff. The pilots (pilot and his student-pilot) started the engine while another pilot stood outside the helicopter and watched for any malfunctions. After about a minute, the pilots turned off the engines and began to inspect the system. It turns out there was some sort of malfunction with the helicopter’s computer. We were told it could have been due to the fact that the helicopter had recently been washed. It would be 2 hours before the pilots could fix the problem, they said. We were sent back to the waiting lounge by shuttle to wait. After about 15 minutes, we were told that due to the computer malfunction and the weather, that the helicopter flight had been cancelled for that day. This was very disappointing to me. Everything about that trip appealed to me. I didn’t want to give up on the helicopter, so I decided to work at the MSDSP office in Dushanbe that day and try for the next day’s flight.
The next morning, the weather again grounded all flights. I didn’t want to take the 14-hour drive to Khorog, especially since I needed to be online at 6 p.m. that day in order to write a government test. So I decided to return to Kulob and try to get to Khorog again in the next weeks.
Getting back to Kulob even proved tricky. Our cab broke down 3 times – among other odd delays – but I made it back to the office by 6 p.m., in time to write the test.
