With Water Pours Out Hope
One village in Tajikistan builds a better future
With a giggle, the women of Khojaabdolon village tell me that during the hot summer months, they often sneak outside at midnight while everyone is asleep to take showers.
This is a new experience for these women in Norak district, Tajikistan — about 34 miles east of Dushanbe, the capital. In the past, they spent most of their daytime hours carrying up to 400 liters of water four to five times a day for about 4 miles. Despite their efforts, the water was often contaminated.
Instead, the more than 500 residents of the village now have individual water spigots in each of their households.
The volume of water supplied to the village now has exceeded the community’s need for drinking water. This abundance has allowed villagers to grow gardens and vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes and peppers on their land for the first time. This new source of food has helped them save money at the market, improve their diet, and even increase their income from the sale of excess produce.
Students are also attending school in greater numbers — improvements in cleanliness and hygiene have decreased instances of children skipping school due to illnesses, or having to haul water. Not only do they arrive on time for school, students are absorbing more of the curriculum with additional time after school to study and complete their homework.
The women of the village are proud their children will have opportunities that weren’t provided to them growing up during the civil war in Tajikistan from 1992–1997. At the time, due to the conflict, people would not go outside or take a shower because of the fear of stray bullets. There were also higher high school dropout rates and limited opportunities for women to get an education.
In general, post-Soviet Central Asia — including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — has struggled with managing its water and energy resources. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan now hope to build giant dams to provide for the energy needs of its citizens.
From Small Efforts Come Big Benefits
With USAID support installing inexpensive water systems, rural villages and towns like Khojaabdolon — whose residents comprise 73 percent of the Tajikistan’s population — are gaining access to safe drinking water. In collaboration with the Government of Tajikistan, USAID seeks to improve the capacity of local governments to deliver municipal services to citizens.
These efforts have increased citizen empowerment through the establishment of a management structure within the local village councils to maintain and operate the water systems. Their contributions have included writing a proposal for initial assistance to the national government and laying out and backfilling the water pipeline — even when the snow was high during the winter months.
The villagers keep a close watch on the new water taps, checking them three or four times a week for damage, as any repairs would come from their own pockets. The transparency associated with the new water meters and payment calculation has led to a greater understanding among the villagers about the value of reliable clean water, so that they only use what they need.
Happy with what they have achieved together through this process, villagers said they have learned that prosperity is in their hands.
Women in the Khojaabdolon village said they have found new confidence to attend village meetings, voice their concerns, and be part of decision making. This empowerment is especially important in Tajikistan, where many women are the primary caregiver for their household.
Due to economic stagnation in the country, some of their husbands travel to Russia as seasonal migrant workers. Many come back in winter and leave again in the spring, but others seek a better life outside of Tajikistan and don’t want to return.
However, the villagers of Khojaabdolon and other remote villages where USAID is working to provide inexpensive water systems, take pride in their efforts to become self-reliant and make their community a more appealing place to settle.
With water flows hope in the village, as citizens now have time to dream of a better future for themselves and their community. Inspired by their unity and the success of their efforts, the village is now setting their sights on other projects that will improve their lives.
About the Author
Jessica Benton Cooney is the Communications Specialist for USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance.
