Greetings from Khujand, Tajikistan.
Here it is, another week gone by. I left on Tuesday afternoon for the Northern part of Tajikistan, the Sughd Region, specifically in Khujand. This is the city were I came in 2005 to establish an officer for the USAID funded AgFin+ Project. IFDC, who I am currently here representing, was a subcontractor at that time, on that Winrock International Project. It has been nice to see the changes that have taken place since my unexpected departure in 2005. They have many, many, many more restaurants and shops now compared to when I was here back then.
I spent the first two nights here in Khujand in a Guest House, owed by one of the ACDI-VOCA employees and his wife. Guess they have lived here for about 10 years now. The rooms were nice and we had a nice simple breakfast each morning for $35 per night for a single occupancy. I have now been in a hotel in the center of town. For foreigners the price is 180 Somoni ($40.18)/night and for Tajik’s it is 100 Somoni ($22.32)/night. So for me, it is better to stay at the Guest House, because it is both cheaper and you get breakfast compared to here at the hotel. But, there are a lot more things to see and do here in the center of town.
The first day here in Khujand was spent in meetings with the staff from our Project's North office. We discussed some of their Grant Program requests. The second day was partially spent in the office doing a write up on the Best Practices that are going to be covered in the various demonstrations this summer. The target keeps moving every day, so it is really hard to stay focused on the task at hand. But I am trying my best to get done what needs to be done before I fly out on the 7th of March. On Thursday morning, I accompanied Husnidin to visit one of the Grant Applicants that will be serving as one of the sites for our Livestock Premix Demonstrations. I was really impressed to see the quality of these bulls. The farm has about 100 head of bulls, plus some rabbits (large holes are dug in the ground and the rabbits develop underground tunnels – there is no way they will escape from those caves until they are taken out and sold or butchered for meat), plus some goats for meat and some ducks. A very diversified livestock operation. Thursday evening after work, I was invited by Husnidin to have dinner with some of his friends. I guess these guys get together about once a month, some being from here in Khujand, some from his home village and some now living in Dushanbe. It was a very enjoyable evening. Guess they liked me! Well, for the rest of the story. I learned that Boulder, CO, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan, are Sister Cities. Supposedly, in Boulder is a Tea House that was donated to Boulder by the President of Tajikistan. Although not authentic Tajik food, according to the Tajik's, you can experience some of the traditional dishes. I ran into someone the other day, after that evening with his friends, who said his grandfather was the one that build the Tea House that was shipped to Boulder and reassembled. What a small World we live in. Will have to take Merry to Boulder to experience that part of Tajik history. When leaving the hotel to go to that dinner, I wasn't paying attention as I walked down the stairs, and hit my head on a low enterance (see Husnidin standing by the low entrance - you can tell why I feel backwards after hitting my head). I guarantee I haven't done that since, I start looking for it before I take the first step going down. That cement archway doesn't move, I guarantee it. Today, the Chief of Party for the Project received a call that one of our Project's employees was supposed to be at a meeting today, but had a pain in his stomach so drove back to Dushanbe and went to the hospital. Turned out that he had a ruptured Apendix. Good thing he was able to make it back to the Capital and not have to deal with it in countryside, where health care is not the best.
Friday was probably the coldest day of my life. We started the day by driving approximately three hours towards the Kyrgyzstan border. Once there, we started our day by attending an outdoor Agriculture Fair, being sponsored by Mercy Corps. Although they had a lot more people than the first one I attended a couple of weeks ago in the South, they had less Input Suppliers in my opinion. We then held two Apricot training programs for farmers that will be part of our Voucher Programs for Apricots. During the last training, I had to use one of their facilities (a photo was included in my Zenfolio photos previously) to relieve myself. My legs were so cold that I couldn’t stand up from the squatting position. Luckily, the walls were close so I could use my arms to pull myself up. Then, until we left the training and got into the warm car, my legs just quivered from the cold. I am told the temperature is much colder than normal and the rooms where the meetings were held had no heat. Once we got back to Dushanbe and were able to have some warm soup and some Vodka, life began to get better. On Friday night, some of the staff I had hired in 2005 joined me for dinner. It was nice to be able to finally explain to them why I left so fast in 2005 without saying good bye. It was really an enjoyable evening and nice to have Zumrad's 4-year old daughter join us. I told Zumrad we need to enter into an agreement for a contract marriage between her and my grandson, Hunter. AJ and Connie, are you game for this arranged marriage?
Today, we had another Apricot training; this time at least there was a room with a small stove that used both coal and wood. The meeting site was the office for a program for woman. I asked the head of the womens group, "out of the 1000 hectares of Apricots in the Collective, how many are owned by women and was told “you can count them on two hands – maybe 8 or 9 women are in leadership positions out of all the land owners". On the way out of town, I had the opportunity to visit another site of where the Project is having a Beef Premix Demonstration. Again, like the visit on Thursday, I was impressed with the quality of the Bulls. This ended our time with one of CNFA's Volunteers, who was here to work with the Apricot growers of Tajikistan. It was nice getting to know John, an Arkansas boy.
When we got back to Dushanbe, Husnidin and I had lunch with the owner of the beef farm we visited on Thursday. He was accompanied by his Veterinarian, who Husnidin went to school with. We had a nice discussion about various issues facing the livestock sector here in Tajikistan. One major issue it that the local Regional Governor has set a maximum price beef can be sold for in the market, unfortunately, that price in below the cost of production. So, this farmer was saying there is no way he can continue to raise beef at that price level. He was hoping things will change by next week and he can once again start to sell his cattle. Husnidin, was planning to go visit his parents before we head back to Dushanbe. His mother asked him to bring some meat, as the Regional Governor there has said no meat will be sold in the market. I asked if those new Governors were farmers and was told no – does that sound like some of the decisions that are being made back in the U.S. That reminds me of hearing people back in Michigan say “we don’t need farmers as I get my food from the grocery store”.
We had a group of 16 Input Suppliers, a University Professor, a Government employee who is going to help our Project sponsor an International Trade Fair this fall and two of our staff members go to Osh, Kyrgyzstan this week for an International Trade Fair in that part of Kyrgyzstan. I am hoping to hook up with some of them tonight for dinner before they fly back to Dushanbe in the morning.
Tomorrow, I need to work here in the Hotel on some projects for next week. I am told there will be a Staff Retreat in the mountains on Thursday and Friday and this information is needed for that meeting. I learned something interesting on Wednesday. Employers here can use 1.4% of the wage taxes they pay for sending their employees to rest areas. So, since the Staff Retreat will be held in the mountains at a ski resort, the organization can pay for the retreat out of the money they would normally send the Government. I guess they could also off rewards to employees by paying for their hotel arrangements for a holiday. Neat idea that would be nice to see in the U.S.
Well, I better sign off for now. Do check out my photos on Zenfolio, at http://www.zenfolio.com/farmeray/p828498799, as I will be uploading a bunch from this trip.
Ray
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