Tajikistan COVID charity appeals

[Virusman]

Good day folks!

I think it is time to give back to the wonderful people in the Pamirs (Khirghiz, Tajiks, etc...)
I and many others won't be able to go there this year to support the local economy. I am lucky enough to have a few contacts to reach out some locals so i will be personally be able to moneygram some money to a specific family in Bulunkul (i guess there won't be much income for them from the 4x4 Tour this year)

I never write messages here..long time lurker..just come here to read and enjoy travelling stories mostly when i cannot travel myself

the travelling community here is i think strong and there might be a way for you Steven to collect some donations from your audience and give it back to specific/known people in different villages.

It could be good to list a few family name location or tour drivers, etc...beforehand the money collection and then the donators would know specifically where there the donations go.

Hope this echoes reach out the people who hitchhike the pamir highway and bragged about it here..it is time to show gratitude folks.

If needed i can give away name and contact of Pamir people who might need financial support (MP please Steven)
good luck
stay safe

PS : a 10usd donation can go a very long way for Pamir people..i think a few thousands of dollars could be easily raised here..questions is who (i can give away a name and contact), how much are you giving back..I think it is better to personally make a moneygram donation to a specific family..directly..amount to be determined...i think a 100-200USD per family would show at least some care and will surely be appreciated. Only someone trustful to the community here could gather the contacts of people that could get the grant (You Steven..sorry to put you such responsibility on you but only someone trusted from everyone here could handle the donation process..receiving money from donators and making sure that 100% of that amount is going to the family)

[steven]

@Virusman : thanks for starting this. The situation is dire in Tajikistan (also in Turkmenistan, by the way)

There are some initiatives underway to help people in Pamir:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hospitals-tajikistan
https://www.gofundme.com/f/tajikistan-c ... le-in-need
https://www.gofundme.com/f/tajikistan-c ... n-syndrome
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-taj ... orphanages

Perhaps something can be done through Sworde-Teppa in Bokhtar as well? I know Christian77 here on the forum is very involved with them.

Charity is a very tricky affair, I know I have criticised people in the past. It's difficult to be fair, to know where the money ends up, especially from a distance. So I'd rather not burn myself on it and leave it to people who know what they are doing.

I'll split this off into a new thread. Ideas and suggestions welcome on how/where to give.

[mazeno]

> Charity is a very tricky affair
mb gates doubled their fortune since the setting their charity foundation

as i know from the talks with many pamiris and kyrgyz people
they don't even need material help from the organisations so much (of course they need it, too) but rather expect profits from contact with common people face to face
as the needs told face to face are more exact
the only problem is contacts with common people (usually tourists) are rarely uphold or repeated
and organisations are usually focused to their own goals and sometimes limited with the law
and already i just call the fact that most money disappear on the way from the donor to the needy in the intermediary pocket

most money are spend on such stupid programms
like introducing an hospital-bus in remote little pamirs (in spite there is no doctor to work there even for a while)
now there is a hospital-bus worth some millions rusting in the place of nowhere
and local kygyzs are still coping with their deseases in old but effective ways
another example
zaych the last village in yazgulem valley
i was talking to the local teacher (8 children in the school) last autumn
there is no electricity
so they got a diesel electricity generator
but got no power converter and the generator is wasting away
so only the producers/sellers and intermediary organisations are happy of becoming rich more and more

so it is very important to watch every cent where it is going to
as we couldn't world's gates, buffets and soroses make richer
from our pockets

many tourist visiting locals think locals don't want money for their hospitality
as they usually refuse money
but
in asia it is common that you have to be refused THREE TIMES before it is real refuse while being gifted
so always leave some money for a "chay" under a plate or what
as your host couldn't notice in the moment but could find later

[Virusman]

My idea is that some of the past travellers of the Pamir highway (which is a lot) might want to donate to a particular person, guesthouse, restaurant, driver etc.. the idea of this topic is to be able to locate a nearby trustable person that could give away that particular donation to that particular business/person. someone might want to give away some cash to a Khirghiz/Pamiris family somewhere but do not know how to reach them.

some family might be difficult to reach but there are plenty of business, individuals that could get some donation in order to limit the impact of less tourist coming this year…

i want to focus on smaller villages..there are guesthouses in OSH or Dushanbe that could be used the help if someone want to expand it there…why not..there is no limit to where and who will get..just need to start somewhere as the Pamir highway is a MUST go places for so many people..please throw in names or list of places you wish you could send out money to or you would like to help out on the Pamir Highway

ok so this is a shoot to anyone who have contact names or contacts information or any other ideas to try to put in touch potential donators to specific people/familly directly. sorry about the low level of English and messy initiative
I know there are more hostels/guesthouses owners but it is difficult to reach out everybody. Let’s have faith and i am sure in that the people at the end will be smart enough to spread it around in a better way than a charity organisation..

Murghab :
Trustable persons in the area
Pamir Hotel German/Russian/English speaking receptionist/manager no contacts

List of people you want to donate to in the Murghab area :

a few 4x4 drivers are based in Murghab but don’t have names or contacts

Karakul : a few guesthouses there…any names/contacts here ?

Sary Tash : A few guesthouses here too could get some donations,

Alichur : few guesthouses there.
Trustable person : Schokrona guesthouse could be a trustable local to give out a donation to a specific location/restaurant/shop owner in the area

Bulunkul : few guesthouses here too.I have a contact there

Khorog : many guesthouses.The most trustable and known one could be Mischa from Pamir lodge (do not have contact information)

Iskashim : one guesthouse there

Langar : few guesthouses there..no names or contact yet

Bartang valley : many villages there difficult to reach out.Mayor of one of the village might be able to connect people.do not know how to reach him but Mischa from the Pamir Lodge might know how to

[Virusman]

The idea is

One traveller from somewhere (audience from this site) wants to donate a few bucks to one specific individual/familly/drivers,etc...
the goal of this topic would be to make that possible easily..the donator would "just have" to donate to one particular contact and that trustable individual would make sure that the receiver gets it donation. By making a list of trustable people in specific area may be that could be possible even

You might wonder how the "Trustable person" would do that free of charge you may ask..because he would have already received himself a donation and because he/she is good hearted like you and me

Please share name and location of trustable persons or person name and location you wish receive a donation from you or someone else too.thank you.your help and knowledge is needed

[bwv812]

Colour me skeptical.

Do we really want to pick winners and losers, and decide who receives money and who doesn't? Especially since the idea seems to be that we should direct money to those participating in the tourism industry, even though those participating in the tourism industry already tend to be more wealthy and prosperous than your average local?

And do we really think that we can accurately tell which locals are trustworthy and should be trusted to fairly/accurately distribute money? I'm sure that local leaders of CBT organizations were seen as trustworthy by their peers/community (who know them much better than we do) when first selected for their positions, but it's now clear that in many instances that trust was misplaced.

I suspect that an organization like the AKDN could do a much better job of equitably distributing aid to those most in need than anyone here could.

[Christian77]

There are things that the AKDN does well with systemic, long-term health development. This is why they have an annual worldwide budget of $1 billion. This is why my government in Canada has given them 100s of millions of taxpayers dollars for development work overseas. But personally, I don't want to give a small cash donation to an organization that has a budget of $1 billion (and who employs my expat friends on a full European/American salary). This is why I prefer to give to a Gofundme-type campaign for an organization or local person that I trust. Don't worry about AKDN. They will likely be one of the implementers on the first $200 million in European/American money that just arrived.

As for who is truly suffering the worst right at this exact moment, it's the northern Sughd Province. This Gofundme is for the NGO Sadoqat who is working to purchase equipment/meds for doctors: https://www.gofundme.com/f/hospitals-tajikistan The local organizer is Muhiddin Tojiev, who is 100% trustworthy (I've know him for almost a decade and he has always been selfless and worked in his spare time for very worthy charity projects).

Another person I know who does amazing work is Tahmina Hakimova, with Down's Syndrome children. This is her appeal: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tajikistan-c ... n-syndrome

As for the poorest region of the country with the worst poverty and health problems, that's Khatlon province. A local oligarch that married into "The Family" just delivered a huge amount of medical supplies to that region, and hopefully they can avoid the worst (that is likely to come soon). This is where I do volunteer work. I donate money to the SWORDE-Teppa NGO: https://www.gofundme.com/f/swordeteppa- ... fundurgent Note that the foreigners involved here take no salary or expenses.

[steven]

Thanks for that, Christian. Very good to have some testimony from someone who actually knows these people.

[Lovetheworld]

This is hard, in that I agree with bwv812, why people in tourist industry? There are much poorer people.
The post of Christian77 makes sense to me.

Because I am sceptical. After hearing in Pakistan that there were never so much new cars after the huge floods in the country
(which affected mostly the poor south)
Obviously I don't have any facts on this, it was just a rumour.