By Alice Thomas, Executive Director, CAI
This August, I traveled to Tajikistan, where Central Asia Institute has been supporting access to quality education and women’s economic empowerment since 2012.
When I arrived, I made the long journey—12 hours by car through winding mountain roads—from Dushanbe, the country’s capital, to the remote Gorno-Badakhshan region. Situated in the Pamir Mountains, Gorno-Badakhshan is home to the offices of Central Asia Institute-Tajikistan (CAI-T), our local partner. Together with CAI-T’s Director, Mahbuba Quorbonalieva, I visited several schools that are currently under renovation with CAI’s support, as well as several schools CAI completed over the last few years. I also met with women who are participating in our entrepreneurship training, now in its third year. These women shared their stories of transforming their skills and ideas into small businesses that are now thriving.
I always find these trips enormously gratifying and inspiring. They allow me to see first-hand the very real and meaningful impact CAI is having on the people of this remote and marginalized part of the world. I’m struck by how deeply our communities value the opportunity to learn, and to take control of and better their lives. And I’m always moved by the sincerity of their gratitude to CAI for supporting and investing in them.
“I feel so happy, lucky, and grateful. I am fulfilling a dream since my childhood.”
As Muqaddas, a scholarship recipient who is studying to be a lab technician, said to me, “I feel so happy, lucky, and grateful. I am fulfilling a dream since my childhood.” Gushing with thanks—and several hugs—she told me, “I’m so grateful that this organization [CAI-T] exists to support me, and other young women of Gorno-Badakhshan like me, who can’t afford their education. Now our futures are bright.”
For all of you who make this possible, I wish I could have taken you with me! But I hope these photos will help bring to life why this work is so needed and what it means to the people whose lives you’re touching.
Driving along the Panj River, looking across to the mountains of Afghanistan.
Across the Panj River, a view of Tajikistan’s mountains overlooking Afghanistan.
Tajikistan’s semi-autonomous Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast is situated among the towering Pamir Mountains. Among the world’s tallest mountains, the Pamirs rest at a junction with other formidable ranges, the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush, and Himalaya, together nicknamed the Roof of the World. Yet, the breath-taking and dramatic beauty of Gorno-Badakhshan goes hand-in-hand with its inaccessibility and underdevelopment, which in turn, contribute to the marginalization and poverty of its people. Indeed, just 3% of the population of Tajikistan carves out a life here.
The Republic of Tajikistan is the second poorest country in the Central-South Asian region, after Afghanistan. Since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its economy has struggled. The country has made few investments in infrastructure, especially in Gorno-Badakhshan. This is evident in the dilapidated state of the region’s schools, many of which were built before 1990 and haven’t been renovated since. To address this and create safe, healthy, learning environments for the children of Gorno-Badakhshan to thrive, CAI-T renovates and rebuilds the worst of these schools.
School #8 in the Village of Derazud
In Rushan District, we visited School #8 in the village of Derazud. Constructed in 1985, the school’s three buildings have not undergone any major repairs since then. The furniture also dates to the 1980s. The 350+ students who attend the school share pit toilets with four holes each for boys and girls. These toilets pose a significant health and hygiene risk.
At present, CAI-T is undertaking repairs to more than 100 windows and doors within these buildings. This is to ensure basic weatherproofing. We are planning additional renovations for the next few years, which will include the exterior and interior walls and new toilets.
School #7 in Sokhcharv Village
Next, we visited School #7 in Sokhcharv village in Shugnan District. Here, I’m thrilled to see our ongoing renovations are close to completion. These renovations include new floors, ceilings, walls, windows, and doors. The newly renovated school will open its doors to students on September 1st, just a few weeks after my visit. There will also be a new indoor toilet and washroom reserved for the preschool students, along with a new set of outdoor latrines for the other 180 students who attend the school from Grades 1 to 11.
School in Darvoz Village
Before I leave, the Governor of Gorno-Badakhshan has asked me to visit one more school in desperate need of repair. Mahbuba and I make time in our schedule to visit the village of Darvoz. Built of timber and plaster in 1980, the school’s walls are crumbling. Mahbuba and I are shocked and depressed by what we see. We leave determined to raise funds in the coming year to renovate this school.
Inside look of a classroom in the Darvoz District in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan.
Inside look of a classroom in the Darvoz District in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan.
CAI’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Program in Gorno-Badakhshan
Meeting with women from Gorno-Badakhshan who are participating in CAI’s women’s entrepreneurship program was a highlight of my visit.
Before attending the program, Nagina, 47 years old and divorced, lived at home with her three sons, one of whom is disabled. Nagina baked and sold bread from time to time to make income. In the summer of 2024, she attended a CAI-T training, at which she learned the basics of entrepreneurship, including how to prepare a business plan, calculate her income, and save money by buying ingredients in bulk. Slowly putting what she learned into practice, she then took advantage of an additional CAI-T vocational training program focused on baked goods and food preparation. As her sales slowly increased, she added new equipment, including a new oven and a dough mixer.
The day I visited, she was busy baking muffins and pirozhki (deep-fried dough buns filled with potato). Nagina told me how the skills and practices she developed through the CAI-T program, and her investments back into her business, have resulted in six times the earnings she was making before. When I asked her how she’s using her augmented income, she told me she has been able to pay for children’s school tuition, and to buy a wheelchair and make modifications to her home to accommodate her disabled son. “I feel proud of myself,” she shares. “I’m able to be independent and take care of my children.”
A 45-minute drive from Khorog, we visit Takhmina’s small bakery. Takhmina has attended three CAI-T business trainings since 2019. Over that time, she has transformed a home oven into a busy bakery business with two employees. Takhmina’s specialty is flatbread, which she cooks in the traditional manner inside the walls of a clay oven.
Takhmina tells me what she learned in the CAI-T business training: how to calculate her income, save, and reinvest proceeds back into her fledging business. She also learned how to take out a business loan to purchase new equipment, including a dough mixer and refrigerator. Now she is thinking of expanding into a larger space. “Whenever people go places, they want to bring my bread with them. I consider myself a role model for this community. Even my cousin who came from Russia brought my bread back with her to show people what I’ve done.”
“I had an idea and the skills. The [CAI-T] training showed me how to start.”
Back in the bustling town of Khorog, Mahbuba finds the sign for “Beauty Salon,” where she takes me to meet Rajasultan. Originally from Gorno Badakshan, Rajasultan emigrated to Russia as a young woman to find work opportunities. There, she earned a beautician certificate and got a job working in a salon doing eyelash extensions. In 2023, her visa was not renewed, and she was forced to move back to Gorno-Badakshan. Unable to find work, she got by doing odd babysitting jobs.
In 2024, all of this changed when she attended a CAI-T training. Rajasultan learned how to start her own business. With some initial support from her sister, she put her knowledge to use and rented a small space inside a nail salon in Khorog. “I had an idea and the skills. The [CAI-T] training showed me how to start,” she explains. “Then [CAI-T]-provided me with some additional equipment including a stool, an antibacterial lamp, and a lounge chair for my clients to relax in while getting their eyelashes done. Now I’m the only eyelash salon that has such a comfortable chair!” She beams. “Next, I want to use my extra income to buy a TV to show music videos and a coffee machine.” Not only is Rajasultan making good money and economically independent, she is also able to support her family. She no longer wants to return to Moscow. When she finds a bigger space, she plans to teach women with disabilities how to do eyelashes for free.
A short drive outside of Khorog along the Panj River we visit the home of 47-year-old Nozbibi, who lives with her husband and two daughters on a small plot of picturesque land with fruit trees, several cows, and chickens. Nozbibi tells me that to make extra income for her family she used to knit socks to sell to the tourists who frequent Gorno-Badakshan in the summer months. But with limited demand and lots of competition, it wasn’t lucrative.
“Then I went to the CAI-T training and learned that if you start a business and it’s not successful, you can always start another business.”
During the winter months, Nozbibi noted how difficult it was to find fresh vegetables in the market. “I heard about an opportunity to invest in a greenhouse as part of a program supported by USAID [the U.S. Agency for International Development]. My family came up with 40,000 somonis [approximately $4,220] and USAID paid the other 60,000 somonis. I then used the business knowledge I learned in the [CAI-T] training.” Last November, she harvested her first crop, which was very successful. “The training also taught me how to advertise my vegetables as coming from this area, which is known for its good soil, and that I use only natural fertilizers, which people prefer.” She proudly shares, “I increased my income by 50% in one year. Now I’m experimenting with peppers!”
