The country has enjoyed a slight growth in GDP over the last few years but despite this nearly two thirds of the population continue to live on less than 2.5 USD per day. This has led to mass migration of male labour both skilled and unskilled to neighbouring countries to look for opportunities to earn more money. TJ is a former USSR colony which gained independence in 1992 after a 5 year bloody civil war. Many of the issues that TJ faces are due to continued use of former soviet systems that are no longer appropriate for the country. (VSO Country Strategy)
So the main aim of the programme here is to
empower women and men living in poverty in rural areas of Tajikistan to achieve
secure and sufficient livelihoods through the development of a diverse range of
work opportunities in small business, agriculture, value added activities and through
sustainable use of natural resources.
My role as Hospitality Advisor at 'The Institute of Entrepreneurship' has so far been to advise on their hospitality curriculum which is almost 20 years old and mainly comes from a soviet textbook, so I am working on updating this, by observing local trends in the city it is easy to see a more modern western influence, with the addition of bars and nightclubs, so a more western style of hospitality is called for, however talking with local people I find a strong attitude to hold onto traditional values as well, so clearly a balance is needed.
Tajikistan is in the early stages of change, it is an area of outstanding beauty thats for sure, and once the logistical problems and infrastructure have evolved it has countless possibilities for tourism especially areas of tourism like eco and adventure holidays.
So I am two months into the project and its been a amazing experience already, I start my Russian lessons today at a local college three times a week and hope the grey matter can handle a different alphabet!
The Institute of Entrepreneurship
Some colleagues in the office
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