Following the Road to Success
The Tekle village is located in the Masally region of Southern Azerbaijan. As is typical in the post-Soviet collapse, basic infrastructure services such as road and water supply were in desperate need of repair and the path to rebuilding had been disappointingly slow. Citizens’ appeals for government assistance to solve these problems were unsuccessful.
On July 2006, representatives from USAID’s Community Development Activity Project visited Tekle to help mobilize and empower the citizens in solving their own problems. Despite their unsuccessful endeavors in the past, the community hoped that the American people, through USAID, would be able to provide some assistance. With the basic community project principle that “process is more important than projects,” a community-wide meeting was facilitated where a 12-member Community Development Council was elected. Thereafter, numerous formal and informal community trainings were conducted.
The community successfully implemented their first project, a potable water system upgrade, which involved the installation of 15 new water faucets to provide potable water to all areas within the village. Emboldened by their success, the community eagerly embarked on their second project—road repair. Within just two weeks, citizens had successfully rehabilitated over 1300 meters of road with sandy and crushed gravel.
At the October 30 ceremony marking the completion of these two projects, U.S. Ambassador Anne Derse complimented Tekle’s citizens, remarking, “Through this project, the community has laid a foundation for cooperation between citizens and local authorities in addressing key local concerns.”
Inspired by their own ability to solve community problems, the citizens progressed to the next phase of the USAID process by undertaking a third project to be completed independently, without additional assistance. The proposed project involved the successful rehabilitation of 620 meters of road with gravel. The community also re-initiated their efforts to repair the 3000-meter inter-community asphalt road. This road, which connects five villages and is vital for inter-community transport and commerce, was in dire need of rehabilitation and hadn’t been repaired in 15 years.
The Tekle community mobilized the citizens in neighboring villages and wrote to their Parliamentary Deputy, the National Parliament and the Presidential Administration for assistance. Soon after, they received a positive response from the government, and the Masally Executive Committee authorized the Road Department to begin a $170,000 project to asphalt the inter-village road.
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| Community residents asphalt the inter-village road in Tekle |
“You have learned through experience that by working together, and in partnership with the local authorities, communities can solve their own problems and invest in their own futures,” said US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse to those gathered at the inauguration ceremony |
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