Habitat for Humanity Tajikistan| Contact information | HFH Tajikistan
Puskin St 16/6 Ap. 9
Dushanbe
734024
Tajikistan
Phone: +421 233669019
Fax: +421 252497073
E-mail: spetrie@habitat.org
| | Web site | www.habitat.tj
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Tajikistan -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
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More than 80 percent of Tajikistan’s population lives below poverty line.
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Devastation was huge after the 2006 earthquake
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Volunteers on site.
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Performance at a house celebration.
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Happy homeowner children.
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Habitat homeowner family, husband Kahramoh Hoshimov, wife Zinora Hoshimova, son Pahlavon and daughter Dalerjou.
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Housing Need
Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in Europe and Central Asia, with almost six of every 10 people living in extreme poverty.
The poorest and most economically fragile of the former Soviet countries, Tajikistan has experienced high levels of emigration, motivated by war following independence and, lately, by economic factors. Labor migrants’ remittances, mostly from Russia, have driven Tajikistan’s growth during the past several years, accounting for an estimated 36 percent of GDP in 2007.
Unfinished homes are scattered across Tajikistan, while existing housing stock deteriorates due to neglect. Families live in houses made of raw brick or clay with dirt floors. In cities, several generations live together in tiny apartments where heating and sanitation are often absent and water must be drawn from communal wells.
Additionally, natural disasters such as earthquakes and mudslides plague the country. In July 2007, an earthquake severely damaged 19 villages. According to official government statistics, at least 1,484 homes were damaged and more than 15,000 people left homeless.
Habitat for Humanity in Tajikistan
Habitat Tajikistan was established in 1999, and to date more than 530 housing interventions have been completed, ranging from new house builds, completion of half-built houses, renovations, and the complete remodeling of an apartment block building. Habitat Tajikistan has also completed a disaster-response project in conjunction with Oxfam.
Habitat Tajikistan is working in partnership with both local and international NGOs and local and national governments. Many innovative projects in Tajikistan are now ready to expand and serve substantially more families.
In the area of disaster response, for example, Habitat Tajikistan has developed an intervention plan that aims to relocate within three years several families living in high-risk areas by helping them to build new, safe, decent homes. One family has finished their house and another 18 houses are under construction.
In that same vein, Habitat Tajikistan, along with the Institute of Seismology in Tajikistan, is continuing to pursue “mulberry branch” technology that can withstand earthquakes of up to 9 on the Richter scale. Branches of mulberry trees are incorporated into walls as a latticework of support for building material that might otherwise collapse during tremors. It’s an affordable solution to make the homes of vulnerable communities more earthquake-resistant, and it’s environmentally sustainable, too, as mulberry trees are found throughout rural Tajikistan.
Only 58 percent of the 7 million people of Tajikistan have access to clean, safe water, so Habitat Tajikistan, in partnership with a local NGO, has developed a low-cost appropriate solution to the problem – the bio-sand water filter. One filter costs $163 and provides clean and safe drinking water for two families. The technology is simple, effective and can be easily installed and maintained by families and the community. The bio-sand water filter also promises to make families healthier: A water and sanitation survey initiated by ECHO revealed 51.1percent of the Tajik population contracts one or more water-borne illness annually.
Global Village
A unique mixture of post-Soviet, Persian and Muslim cultures is one of the attractions that brings international volunteers to Tajikistan.
Says Wanda Smith, a Global Village team leader who typically returns to Tajikistan every year: “The Tajiks are a people who have withstood war, various governments and difficult economic times. It was humbling to work side by side with a group of people who universally inspire us to never grumble about our lot in life. May we never forget the lessons we learned in Tajikistan about triumph over circumstances!"
Habitat Highlights
• A pilot project with First Microfinance Bank Tajikistan has initially served 30 families with affordable housing loans of up to $5,000. More than 1,000 families may be helped through the program during the next two years.
• In the remote Kumsangir district, an HFH Tajikistan partnership is distributing 1,000 bio-sand water filters to improve families’ health.
• In fiscal year 2008, HFH Tajikistan served 525 families, its most ever in a single 12-month period.
• HFH Tajikistan and the Institute of Seismology in Tajikistan have developed a “mulberry branch” building method to affordably strengthen houses before earthquakes occur. More than 175 houses have already been reinforced in earthquake-affected and vulnerable communities.
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