Latest Blog Posts

16 Day Challenge: A Helping Hand for Trafficking Victims in Uzbekistan

- 12/13/2012

16 Day Challenge: A Helping Hand for Trafficking Victims in Uzbekistan

Posted by Michelle Blau, Senior Development Outreach and Communications Officer, Central Asia on Friday, December 7th 2012     

Sparking the Love of Reading in Central Asia

- 09/10/2012

ABCs: Building Blocks for Better Relations

- 09/06/2012

Imams Encourage TB Treatment in Tajikistan

- 07/05/2012

As a community health specialist with USAID’s Quality Health Care Project in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, I educate community members, medical workers, patients, and their families about tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, treatment, and infection control.  My job involves being constantly available and responsive to the needs of patients and their families, and I tend to work unusual hours in order to fit into their schedules.  Still, I was a bit surprised when I received a call from Safarov Khudodod in the middle of the night last month.  Khudodod is an imam, a religious leader at his mo

An Oasis for New Moms

- 06/15/2012

Living with Tuberculosis: A Personal Note

- 03/23/2012

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Tackling Tuberculosis in Migrant Populations

- 01/26/2012

On December 19, 2011, the day after International Migrants Day, I found myself on a plane from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a business trip.  I was surrounded by Tajik laborers returning home to celebrate the New Year.

Listening and Remembering: The Fight against HIV/AIDS in Kazakhstan

- 12/27/2011

Recently, in commemoration with the 30th anniversary of the fight against HIV/AIDS, I had the opportunity to sit down with people who are on the front lines of this struggle in Kazakhstan.  Our informal press round table was a chance for people living with HIV to tell their story about discrimination and access to health care.  The discussion was lively, and each person had a different experience to share.  One thing everyone had in common was deep remorse for the lives lost to this disease.

A doctor, Gulzhan Akhmatova, shared the difficulties of getting pa

In Turkmenistan, USAID Brings New Opportunities to Farmers and Students

- 11/10/2011

In my 24 years with USAID, I have served around the world but somehow had never made it to the former Soviet Union – until last month.  So it was with great excitement that I anticipated my first visit to Central Asia, eager to learn more about the region and our programs there.

Farmers in Mary attend a USAID-supported agricultural training session.