Saturday, January 29th

It is hard to believe that I left Denver for Tajikistan 2-weeks ago.  So, I guess the saying "Time Flies When You Are Having Fun" is correct.  Or there are just so many tasks needing to be done with the project that it makes the time go by fast. 

This week I decided, since I will be staying longer than originally planned, that I would move from the hotel into an apartment (see photos of the apartment at my Zenfolio site).  I am in the second phase of my diet, starting once I arrived here in Dushanbe, and it has been really hard to follow the prescribed diet while living in a hotel and eating all meals out.  Although, I have managed to lose an additional 7 lbs. since starting the 2nd round of shots on the 18th.  I hope living in the apartment will help me get back on track with the diet as it is supposed to be followed.  But it took a long time to get to where I was weight wise, so as long as I am continuing to lose weight while I am here I am happy.  I still have the goal of where I want to be, come the middle of June in my head and I am striving to chip away at the weight so I can get there.  Wish me continued luck.

This week has focused on starting to inform farmers, dealers and processors of the upcoming Regional Agriculture Fair, next week in the South.  Or staff will go down there on Wednesday, in preparation for the Thursday Fair.  In addition, we are making it possible for 11 dealers from the North and the RRP (Dusanbe and surrounding areas in Central Tajikistan) to attend the Fair and show and hopefully enter into contracts with farmers from that area for improved seeds, fertilizers and Crop Protection Products (herbicides, insecticides and fungicides).  Many people are being invited to attend from the North and RRP Regions, in addition to those from the South.  The location of the Fair had to be changed at the last minute, because the newly appointed Governor of that area refused to give permission for the event to happen.  Our staff went down there to meet with the staff of Mercy Corps who will be hosting the event in cooperation with our project.  At that point, they did not know for sure if the Governor would meet with them or not, which he didn't, so the location was changed to a community where their Governor was much more receptive.  The only problem is this will cause the target group of farmers to have to travel an additional 20 KM to attend.  So hopefully, this will not effect the attendance at the Fair.  Our project will offer a number of training opportunities in addition to having an informational booth to explain our project and to disseminate informational brochures on the five target crops of our project.

This week one of our staff finalized plans for a CNFA Farmer to Farmer Volunteer that is coming here to work with the Meat Cutters and Processors.  One of our project's cooperators would like to establish a new Slaughter Facility near the major market in town.  I served twice as a Volunteer with CNFA in Moldova doing Recordkeeping with farmers of four different cooperatives that had been formed since the break up of the Former Soviet Union.  This is a nice program for folks that are willing to give of their time and knowledge to help others around the world.  The program pays for their travel costs and they volunteer their time.  Nice way to see the world, while at the same time, help others that are less fortunate than we are in America.

Last night I was working later than normal and saw a lot of commotion outside my office, I just thought it was something in conjunction with the staffs English classes.  But turned out to be a Staff Party, to say thanks for all your efforts last year in the project.  Was a nice way to end the week.  They had also invited some folks from another project down the street so that was nice having an opportunity to also meet them.

This week, I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of different Input Dealers that are working with our project.  If you check out my photos, you will see me with one of them.  She wanted her picture with me, sad "You are a big man and I am a big woman, I want a picture with you".  So we took the picture.  I later saw her in the office and told her that my wife is mad at be having my picture with another woman.  We all laughed.  She said she is going to send the photo to her husband, too, who is a respected Cardiologist.  While talking with the other dealer, I learned that he has expanded his business as a result of the recent Onion Voucher Program.  In the past he just sold fertilizer and CPPs, and now farmers are asking him for improved seeds for other crops in addition to the Onion Seeds he started to sell during the Voucher Program.  This is the kind of information that I need to get the staff here to document.  I call this the "So What" of the program.  Documenting you did a task is good, but document what changed because of the task is what is needed to show the effects of the project.

Well, I have gotten very windy this morning.  So time to wrap this one up.  Not sure what I will be doing for the rest of the weekend, but I do hope I can catch up on some sleep this weekend, since I have been on the go since I have been here.  I hope the new apartment warms up some by the time I get home - have a number of space heaters plugged in.  Oh by the way, I am told if I take a taxi, just tell the driver to bring me by the President's house.  Guess I am living in a well protected area.

Check out my photos at   http://www.zenfolio.com/farmeray/p828498799

Wednesday, January 26th

Boy, where do I start with my Blog since last writing.  There is just so much needing to be done with regards to meeting the project's goals for this quarter.  John Allgood was scheduled to leave for the airport on Monday morning at 2:30 a.m., but he received a call at 2 a.m. that the plane would not be flying.  When I got up, I found out why - you could have cut the fog with a knife.  Well, he was finally able to get out of here about 6 p.m. and that left things in my hands. Thanks John!!!

I have continued working with the staff and ACDI-VOCA's Chief of Party to finalize plans for implementing the various aspects of the project.  Unfortunately, in the process, there was a major disagreement between a couple of the key staff members, which caused me to bring them into my office and let them know things needed to change right now.  They may not like what is planned but we have to be flexible and work through any changes that come down from USAID to ACDI-VOCA to our project.  It looks like I will be extending my stay here by at least two months, departure now planned for around April 15th.  That would give me time to work with the staff through their 2nd quarter.  Since the time will be extended, I have decided to look for an apartment for my remaining time here.  It will be much cheaper than staying in a hotel or guest house, plus I would have cooking previlleges.  Will be located between the office and one of the restaurants I like to go to. I have choicen a two bedroom, living room, kitchen with dining area and balcony to rent.  Not as nice as we are used to, but will be nice to have a little more room than the hotel, plus an opportunity to cook.  I have elected to continue the second round of shots for my diet while I am over here.  Unfortunately, eating out all the time is not conducive to the diet.  Hopefully, with this move I can get back on track - although I am still losing weight even with eating out.

Today, went to the southern part of the country, not to far from the Afghan border.  While visiting a fertilizer vendor in the market a guy came up and I guess he said "we get everything from God so don't beg from them".  One of our staff felt he was influenced by Afghan presence in the area.  I didn't know anything about it until he told me what happened.  This area reminds me a lot of what I experienced in 93 and 94 in Armenia.  The houses in the village look the same, much of the land looked the same and the sites with shepards tending their cattle and flocks was the same.  Boy what scenery I saw on our 4-hour trip, especially the mountains and the changing soil structures.

Well that is about all for now. It has been a long day, so time for the lights to go out for another day.  Be sure to check out my photo album for the new pictures taken today.  Go to: http://www.zenfolio.com/farmeray/p828498799 .

Sunday, January 23rd

Today was another busy day in this part of our world.  I started the day trying to complete a task related to the Shriner's Newsletter that I edit.  All the reviewer comments were received and I summarized them before sending onto our graphic artist in Indiana.  When I left home on the 15th, I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull this issue off from this part of the world. But at this point, it looks as though the issue will get out on time without my physical presence in Colorado Springs.

Yesterday, was spent at the office working on finalizing the project's Voucher Program document, the Demonstration Plot document and the Training Program document.  I also worked with the project's Team Leader to pull together the information needed for a letter that needs to be sent to USAID for a waiver that would allow our project to locally source the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizer we need this spring for the Voucher Program and our Demonstration Plots.  We finished working on that task today and the letter was sent to the Chief of Party for ACDI-VOCA to review and forward onto USAID.  We are told the process may take approximately 30-days to get final approval. 

Yesterday, John and I were driven around the city to see some sites and also to visit some shops for souvenirs.  I am an impulse buyer, so now is too early for shopping.  But I did buy a few handmade items that can go on future Christmas Trees as a way to remember the time I spent here in Dushanbe. You can view some photos of the various items that were in the one store we visited - just copy and paste the link found in the header above this posting. Last night Will, John and I went out to dinner at a very nice Ukrainian restaurant.  The atmosphere, the food and the commaradier were second to none and the meal very inexpensive for what we received.  In this part of the world BBQ is called Shaslik - I had Pork Shaslik with a very nice salad, John had Chicken Shaslik with rice and Will had a very nice looking Pork Chop with an assortment of picked items (cabbage, tomato, peppers).  This was an excellent opportunity to get to know the Chief of Party for whom I will be working with while here in Tajikistan.

While waiting at the hotel for Will to come pick us up, a young man that works here, came up to John and I and said you do not have the required documents you need.  If only staying in Tajikistan for 2-days you don't need it but if you are staying longer you must have this document to leave the country.  Well that caught John's attention as he has to leave for the airport at 2:30 in the morning.  We waited for the Manager of the hotel to show up, so we both could get the document, but had to leave for the restaurant.  When we returned the Manager was gone.  So this morning we were supposed to meet him at 8 a.m., well after 9 a.m., I decided to head to the office and left my Passport with John to get the required document.  When John showed up at the office he was laughing.  He said let me tell you about my experience this morning.  "There was no clue when this Manager was going to show up.  So I told the young guy at he hotel, why don't you learn how to issue this document, it would be a good learning opportunity for you to possess.  The guy said, I know how to do it.  Why then, did you not do it for us this morning.  His response "Because You Didn't Ask Me, I thought you wanted the Manager to do it".  So I guess the lesson learned is that you must always ask the right question.

For lunch today we walked down to a smal Tajik restaurant.  I am a soup lover, so I ordered a bowl of vegetable beef soup and a salad.  When the salad arrived, it was a bowl of stewed tomatoes.  Glad I like stewed tomatoes! In the late afternoon, John and I met one of the Peace Corps Volunteers that I interacted with in Armenia in 94 and 1999-2000 when I was over there with USDA.  Chuck in now here in Tajikistan with USAID working as a Project Manager overseeing some of their agricultural funded projects.  It sure is a small world.  When I arrived, I also learned that another person I knew from my past just recently left Tajikistan, after being here four year.  Wish we could have broken some bread together.  For dinner, I munched on some of the leftovers that were given to us on Friday night from the dinner we had at the home of our project's Team Leader.  Was good that night and also tonight.

So another good day.  More later.  To view photos from over here go to  my photo site: 
http://www.zenfolio.com/farmeray/p828498799

Friday, Januaray 21

Today we continued with project planning for the rest of the year, with emphasis being placed on future training sessions for the farmers and agro-input dealers that are working with the USAID Productive Agriculture Project here in Tajikistan.  In the coming months, the staff will be wearing multiple hats:

• Conducting a voucher program that will provide partial payment for seed, fertilizer and crop protection products for the participating crops.  In order to receive a voucher, the farmers must have participated in the training programs and the field days at one of the project demonstration plots.
• Implementing demonstration plots/feeding trials in three regions of the country (North, Central - near the capital city and the South) for the project supported crops and beef fattening project.
• Conducting training sessions for the farmers and agro-input dealers in the three regions of the country.  Next year, the farmers who participate in these training and field days will be eligible to participate in the voucher program.

At the end of the day, John and I were invited to the home of the staff member of the current project, who I had hired in 2005 for the other IFDC project.  I was surprised to meet his younger brother, who also worked in the office of our previous project, but with the organization that actually had the contract with USAID.  In three months previously, I was only invited to one home here in Tajikistan. So I told John, we were very honored to be invited into a home at this early stage. I know I will have that opportunity again before I leave.  Now for the cultural difference - we saw none of the women in the family - they were in a separate room preparing the food that was brought into the room we were meeting in by our host's son.  As we were leaving, I aske our host to thank his wife for the nice table.  This is the response I received "my woman only has one job - to take care of me, my son and my quests".  Although the meal was very simple, there was plenty of good eating and good fellowship had by all.

Thursday, January 20th

Today was another day working with the IFDC staff here in Tajikistan in planning for the implementation of the voucher program for six crops and some animal feed.  We spent the day today developing an action plan for carrying out the various aspects of the Voucher Program.  There is definitely going to be alot needing to be done between now and March 31st.  This process, although long, will provide the staff with benchmark dates to shoot for, in order to get everything accomplished by March 31st.

Today for lunch I ordered Borsh.  Very tasty and good for my diet - I hope!  Lost 1.2 lbs yesterday.  So hopefully that trend will continue.  However, it is hard when you are staying in a hotel and have to eat both lunch and dinner in restaurants.  Tonight we went for a long walk to have dinner where we have driven in the past.  The weather was cool and damp, but provided for a nice walk to dinner.  I had a nice BBQ lamb dinner.

This afternoon we had the opportunity to visit a large Agro-Input Dealer, who was originally from Afghanistan.  We learned today that they now have 30 small shops throughout the country.  Very clean and well organize. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to meet a lady for the north region who is a very large Agro -Input Dealer.  She is a member of the Association of Agro-Input Dealers here in Tajikistan.  That is an organization that was started back in 2005 by the group I hired when I was working here.  She is also cooperating with the Dealer we visited today. We also visited the Green Market, a very nice Farmers market.  Most of the evening, however, was spent finalizing the report we worked on today and preparing something for tomorrow's discussions.  Getting late here, so will write more tomorrow night.

Wednesday, January 19th

Today was another day in planning with the IFDC staff here in Dushanbe.  Most of our efforts focused on the Voucher Program for Apricots, Lemons, Tomatoes, Watermelons, and Onions. In addition, there will also be a Voucher Program for a Beef Pre-Mix.  In all cases, the Voucher Program follows a series of demonstration plots and educational programs centered around those particular commodities. We also discussed the various demonstrations that will take place this year with these commodities in different locations from last year’s demonstration program.   Input suppliers, who will be selling the inputs covered by the Vouchers will be encouraged to conduct their own demonstration plots this year with the assistance of the IFDC staff.

We also spent time today discussing how IFDC can best partner with Mercy Corps on the upcoming Trade Fair happening in early February in the southern part of Tajikistan, down by the Afghanistan border.  This next month will be very busy for the staff as they work through the Voucher Program, the Trade Fair and a 2 day Staff Retreat at one of the mountain ski resorts.  I thought it was funny yesterday when we were first told about the pending retreat, that if there is snow we won’t be able to get to the ski resort and if we can get to the resort, there won’t be any snow for skiing.  So it should be interesting either way.

The last two mornings we have had snow, but it is melted by the afternoon.  Our agronomist with the project is very happy to see the snow as this has been a very dry year here in Tajikistan.  The wet snow has made for some muddy walking to and from the hotel to the office and from the office to the cafeteria next door where the various NGO’s go to eat lunch.  I spent less than $2 today for a large bowl of soup, a salad and some tea.  Dinner cost three of us, less than $12 tonight. So meals are very reasonable here. 

Yesterday, I started the second round of shots for my diet.  I am finding it very hard this time around to eat the correct foods that are part of the diet.  However, I am working at trying to follow the diet to the best of my ability.  I may explore moving into a guest house or an apartment for the rest of my stay here, in order to better meet the requirements of my diet.  But as long as I am not gaining weight, I am moving in the right direction.

Well it is late and I am still facing the effects of Jet Lag.  So I will sign off now and wish everyone a great day.

January 15th - January 18th

Friday, January 14, 2011

My trip to Tajikistan began

 when I dropped Coco off at the dog sitter’s.  I then proceeded to Denver where Merry and I had reservations for two nights as part of the International Shrine Horse Patrol meetings and also the National Western Livestock Show.  Unfortunately, the opportunity to go to Tajikistan as part of a USAID project funded through ACDI-VOCA and subcontracted to IFDC, the organizationt that I worked for in Kosovo in 2003-2004 and in Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan in 2005 came about and I had to forego the meeting and rodeo.

On Friday night, I went to the airport about 9 p.m. in order to pick up Merry at 11 p.m.  While there, I wanted to weigh my luggage to make sure I was not over weight, which I was by 9 lbs.  But they waived the fee because I was flying Business Class.  So at 11 p.m., I went back to the counter and checked in my luggage and obtained by boarding pass, so I could sleep in about 30-min longer.  Either way it was a short night.

Saturday, January 15th

Merry and I headed back to the airport at 4:15 a.m. for my 6 a.m. flight to Atlanta.  When I arrived in Atlanta, I met up with John Algood from IFDC.  Thanks to John, I was upgraded to Business Class from Atlanta to JFK in New York and then from JFK to Instanbul.  I was great having a chance to get updated on the people and programs of IFDC, since my medical evacuation for Tajikistan in 2005.  The flights were uneventful, but long, and the food in Business Class was great.

Sunday, January 16th

We arrived in Istanbul about 9:30 a.m. for our 9 hour layover before flying onto Dushanbe, Tajikistan.  Sure will be nice to get there.  If my calculations are correct, it will be 31 hours from the time the plane left Denver, until in lands in Dushanbe - taking in the layover in Atlanta, New York and Istanbul. Since we are flying Business Class, we were able to visit one of the hospitality clubs at the airport.  Boy is that nice, the chairs were comfortable, the atmosphere very relaxing and they had all kinds of snacks/food and drinks you could enjoy during your time there.  I particularly enjoyed their Mushroom Soup and various types of cheese.  Our flight on Turkish Airlines was not as comfortable.  John and I were separated on this leg of the flight.  Luckily I was given an exit row, which provided for extra leg space.  I was sitting with a young guy from Sweden who comes to Tajikistan about six times per year as a consultant for 2-3 weeks.  The other young guy travels all over consulting with the Embassy.  This is his first time here, so he was really picking our brains about what to expect.  I do not remember alcohol being the issue it was in other parts of the Former Soviet Union, however, the Swedish gentlemen was saying it was.  So will see for myself when I get here.

Monday, January 17^th

We arrived in Dushanbe around 3:30 a.m. – boy was there confusion at the airport, trying to get through Immigration.  Unfortunately, I think we picked the line with a new employee, because he had to keep calling his superior over.  Finally, he was sent away and the other guy just took over.  Once we got through that process, it was off to find my luggage, and luckily it was here in one piece.  We were then greeted by the IFDC Team Leader and a Driver. I had heard his name and seen it in reports, but it did not sink in.   I had hired him in 2005 before I was Medically Evacuated.  What a small world we live in.  The reunion was very special, although both John and I were ready to get to the hotel for a few hours’ sleep before starting our time here.  We decided to forego breakfast, since it was 6:00 a.m. when we finally got to the hotel, and go directly to the room for a little sleep.  At 11 a.m. we were again greeted by the Team Leader and the Driver and taken to a restaurant for lunch.  This time was spent getting an update on the project and some staffing challenges that are taking place with the project.  From there, we headed to the joint ACDI-VOCA and IFDC office to meet the team.  Our first stop was meeting with Will Bullock, the Chief of Party for the ACDI-VOCA project, for about an hour. We then had a joint staff meeting with the two teams.  They linked their satellite office in the North up to the meeting using Skype.  Didn’t work so well, but was nice to have a visual to go with the sound.  Following the meeting at the office, we went to dinner with the team leader.  Although the music was a little loud, interfering with our ability to totally understand what was being said, we did enjoy the evening.  It was now time to crash back at the hotel. But before that could happen, I tried unsuccessfully to get hooked up to the Internet via the computer in my hotel room.  Will have to wait until tomorrow to contact Merry from the office and then find out if the hotel has Wireless.

Tuesday, January 18^th

I woke up about 3:30 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep.  So wondered around the room, after staring at the ceiling for an hour, and decided to hang up my cloths.  Before I knew it, it was time to head downstairs for breakfast.  They provide a very nice breakfast in the morning with a variety of food items for you to choose from.  Since I elected to start the second round of shots for my diet this morning, will be taking daily shots for the next 40+ days, I only enjoyed some fruit and tea.  But I could have had a variety of breads, cold pancakes, cheese, eggs, sausage, and yogurt from the buffet table.  We then headed to the office, where we had scheduled a daylong staff meeting to see where the project is with regards to the various deliverables for this Quarter: Demonstration Plots (Lemons, Tomatoes, Onions, Water Melon, Apricots and Beef Cattle Feeding), the Voucher Program (Seeds, Fertilizer, Pesticides and Black Plastic), Trade Fair, and Training Programs.  Earlier in the morning, I was approached by Will, asking for my help in pulling together information from the team as to how we see IFDC and Mercy Corps working together on a Trade Fair in the southern part of Tajikistan the Winter.  This proved to be a very interesting discussion.  It looks as though USAID wants this to happen and for IFDC to be a part of making it happens.  Tomorrow, I will have to see about arranging a meeting with the COP for Mercy Corps and his staff in the very near future.  This would involve travelling about four hours to the south, near the Afghanistan border for the meeting.  I feel we had a very good discussion today on the various deliverables for the project, we will continue that discussion tomorrow.  We had a nice lunch at a cafeteria next door to the office – it is only open for lunch – nice selection of food – wish I could try most of it, but not good for the diet I am on.  Dinner was at a traditional Tajik restaurant.  Nice music and traditional dancing – they had one young lady dancing to the music and some of the men; I think two sheets to the wind, would get up and dance with her.  Nice evening, but again the music was too loud to carry on a conversation, especially when communicating with someone who has just learned to speak English in the last three years.  I could not believe how well I held up today.  But once back in the hotel, I was a sleep before I knew it.  I was Skipping with Merry and she actually told me to go to sleep as I was falling asleep anyways.  Another day tomorrow.  Oh by the way, I couldn’t believe what kind words were shared with John about me from six years ago when I started the IFDC project in the Northern part of the country.  I guess I had touched lives in a positive way at that time.  Sounds like they are going to try and arrange for a party with the crew I had hired back then – that would be nice.  Unfortunately, they were pretty much left in the dark when I did not return to work on Monday, after flying to Dushanbe to meet with the Embassy Doctor and then being flown to the Vienna Medical Center and the home.  So would be nice to see them again.

Test Message

This is a test message of the Blog I have established for my pending trip to Tajikistan on January 15, 2011.