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PROGRAMS
Community Development»
Emergency Shelter Aid to Afghanistan»
Tajikistan gained independence in 1991 following the
collapse of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of its
transition phase, the country's political crises and
armed conflicts pushed it deep into economic and social
turmoil. Although a Peace Agreement was signed in 1997
and its implementation completed in early 2000, the
economic and social situation continues to deteriorate,
challenging the survival of the people of Tajikistan.
Since 1991, Tajikistan has experienced a severe
decline in the social, educational, health and general
well being of its children. The civil war, displacement
and the ongoing threat of sudden violence have left a
population of youth traumatized psychologically and
socially. The great needs of the general population of
Tajikistan, especially the children, motivated UMCOR NGO
to
establish a new office in Dushanbe in 1999.
UMCOR
Tajikistan's operations are based in Dushanbe
with a field office in Kurghon-Teppa. UMCOR has
implemented its programs in Tajikistan with generous
funding from the U.S. Agency for International
Development, and is transitioning its USAID projects to
a locally sustainable NGO.
Programs
Community Development
In 1999 UMCOR was awarded a grant by USAID to develop
two Youth Houses in Tajikistan. Youth Houses are
welcoming places where disadvantaged and vulnerable
youth, ages 10-18, can come for extracurricular
education, training, psychological counselling, creative
arts, and recreation. As a result of the civil war, a
collapsed infrastructure, overwhelming poverty, and a
3-year drought, many of the country's children and youth
are malnourished, neglected, and suffer from the
negative social effects of poverty and a poorly-funded
educational system.
Since the official opening in early 2000 of the Youth
Houses in the capital city, Dushanbe, and the regional
city, Kurgon-Teppa, these projects have worked with over
4,500 children and youth from low-income, formerly
displaced, and former refugee families. At the current
time, Youth House has been registered as a local Tajik
NGO and is in the process of becoming a sustainable
community organization independent of UMCOR Tajikistan. Youth House
- NGO is seeking grant funding from many sources to
continue developing the long-term sustainability of its
programs.
Youth House programs are divided into three main
areas: Extracurricular Education and Training, Civic
Education, and Psycho-social counselling.
In Extracurricular Education and Training courses,
students take advantage of quality classes and teaching
materials in English, Arabic, Computer, Journalism, and
creative arts. Additionally, as a result of poor
schooling or an interruption of schooling during the
civil war, many Tajik students between the ages of 10-18
cannot read or write their own language. Youth Houses
identify these beneficiaries and place them in special
Remedial Education classes. A number of these students
have returned to school after gaining these basic skills,
while others are then able to move on to other course of
extracurricular learning with confidence.
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Girls
and boys from low-income and internally displaced
families make up the Dushanbe Youth House art
class |
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Mr.
Parviz, a Dushanbe Youth House computer teacher,
is known for his individual instructional approach |
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Dushanbe Youth House children showing off their new banner |
The Youth House Civic Education Department
features a six-month program to train students in the
principles of democracy, open society, human rights, and
the rule of law. Youth House beneficiaries
democratically elect Student Councils and students are
tasked with undertaking and organizing their own
community action projects, from neighborhood clean-ups,
to working with orphans, to solving local community
problems.
The Psycho-Social Counselling Department deals
with the effects a war-torn and poverty-stricken society
have upon the disadvantaged children who attend Youth
House classes. Many Youth House students have lost
family members to war, crime, drug-abuse, alcoholism,
and disease. Other students suffer from neglect,
family-conflict, depression, anxiety and fear, and low
self-esteem. Trained Youth House staff psycho-social
counsellors work with beneficiaries identified as
suffering from psycho-social problems. Youth House
counsellors conduct group and individual counselling seminars for over 100 children each 4-month cycle.
Counselling is divided in to five main areas: depression,
aggression/conflict, grief & loss, low self-esteem,
and anxiety/phobias. Youth House counsellors continue their training and development to work with
children in traumatic situations
Emergency Shelter Aid to Afghanistan
In response to the critical situation to the south of
Tajikistan, in Northern Afghanistan, following the
terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, UMCOR
Tajikistan
has developed a strategic partnership with Mercy Corps,
an international NGO, to deliver humanitarian aid across
the Tajik border into Afghanistan. UMCOR has joined a
major emergency appeal by ACT (Action By Churches
Together) to raise funding to provide winter shelter and
household relief to 4,000 displaced families in Northern
Afghanistan (24,000 people).
Under the partnership, UMCOR Tajikistan is responsible for the
procurement and transport of humanitarian aid supplies
through Tajikistan into Afghanistan, where Mercy Corps
staff will receive the items and distribute them
immediately to those families in need.
Targeted areas for delivery of aid are around the
Afghan regional city of Taloqan, recently vacated by
Taliban forces and taken by the Northern Alliance. The
fast-approaching winter weather and poor roads in
Afghanistan make this aid especially urgent, as many
areas of the country may be cut off until the spring.
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