134 homes built. Hundreds of lives changed.

Find out how you can help.

Adventures in Tajikistan

Khujand, Tajikistan

by Lauren Galacia

When I heard that our Global Village group, originally destined for Siberia, had been rerouted to Khujand, Tajikistan, my first question was, "Where?" I didn't know anything about this Central Asian country. But when the affiliate began to send information and convey their excitement about having volunteers, I became excited, too.

On the Habitat home site, there were a number of duplexes in different stages of completion. We mixed cement with shovels and dumped it bucket by bucket into a form to create the foundation of a home. We did backfilling, moved huge piles of brick, and did bricklaying under the watchful eye of the master mason - all in temperature that constantly topped 100 degrees of dry, still heat.

We worked alongside Aziz, a future homeowner, and Farzona, a young girl who would come alone to the site each day to put in work hours for her family. There were also three young Tajik women who volunteered on the site because they were eager to practice their English. While working, we asked each other questions about our respective countries, and during breaks, we would read English magazines together.

After a late lunch at the work site, we would return to our modern, air-conditioned apartments (quite a luxury there!) for showers and a nap. Our afternoons were free for exploring the local area - a bustling marketplace, mosques, and teahouses. As a group, we would go to one of the local restaurants to feast on kebabs, rice, cucumber and tomato salads, and wonderful Tajik bread.

For our weekend R&R we went to a former communist training camp in the mountains. Tajik women and children in colorful dresses were playing volleyball - laughing and shouting. A group of Uzbek men danced to techno music blaring from their speaker system. They danced for hours until midnight and then - to our surprise and dismay - started right up again at 5 am!

After our last day of work, we went to visit a nearby Habitat home that had been occupied for about a year. It was complete with a large garden growing corn and vegetables and a secure area for farm animals. The homeowner welcomed us with newly picked grapes from the vine that framed his entryway.

In the time we were there, we completed the foundation for one duplex and most of the brickwork of another. Behruz, the Executive Director of the Khujand Habitat affiliate, told that he considered our stay in Khujand a great success. More than anything else, he hoped that each of us would go home and tell people about his little country that few people in the West seems to know much about.

Now, whenever someone asks me about my summer travels, I'm proud to be able to share photos and stories about Tajikistan - the warm welcome we received, it's rich culture, beautiful architecture, and the people there who touched my life.

Do you have a Global Village trip story you'd like to share? Please e-mail it to us we'll post it in this section.