Telling Our Story

Zebo Begmatova, a widow of 10 years, lives in one of the poorest districts of southern Tajikistan on the Afghanistan border.  As a single mother Zebo has had difficulty supporting her two children, ages 12 and 10. Zebo has a small garden, their only source of food, where she plants cabbage, potatoes and tomatoes.

“I knew how to preserve food before,” says Zaron Hafizova, “but often much of the food I preserved spoiled and I was unable to preserve enough.” Zaron’s husband, Rahmaddin Shekhov, adds to the discussion, remarking about their greenhouse, “Many years ago we used greenhouses, but during the post-Soviet period we stopped using them and forgot about them.”

While both Zaron and Rahmaddin, 51 and 50 years of age respectively, are experienced farmers, they benefited greatly from the greenhouse and food preservation trainings conducted by the USAID and Mercy Corps Tajikistan Stability Enha

Hakimova is the head of her household. Her husband is a labor migrant in Russia eight months out of each year, but remittances come only when requested. Her family of five lives on $100 per month and grows their primary food sources: wheat, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, beets, and turnips. With a small orchard of fruit trees, the summer is bountiful in comparison to winter when food diversity is limited to non-perishable goods. Hakimova explains, “I don’t have the income to purchase preserved goods at the market.

Doniyor Jumanov, a 17-year-old from a village two hours from the nearest city in northern Tajikistan, is particularly energized as he and the other apprentices move from one machine to the next constructing their creations.

The large two-room workshop is filled with scattered pieces of completed and half-finished furniture.  Some pieces have a modern style, while others have a more traditional flair.  The light coming through the large showcase window illuminates two large wooden chests