25 things you should know about poverty
http://www.habitat.org/hw/june_2009/feature3.html
About Tajikistan http://www.habitat.org/intl/eca/235.aspx
This series of posts is about my Global Village trip to Tajikistan through Istanbul, only my 2nd build. We had a terrific team leader in Jeri, she had experience being on and leading 20 or so builds and I hold her in high regard for her leadership, ability to keep to herd cats (that's what it's like with a group of adults), to go with the flow and be flexible during changes and to have a great sense of humor through the whole thing. Also, huge kudos to Farhod, the Dushanbe based local leader for our group and his friend Mahmudjon, our interpreter.
We were the first group to build in Khujand in 3 years, the photos are of completed Habitat Houses in the area 29, "New Land". 12 of 250 (or so) are complete, not all are Habitat Homes.
Our crew: Jeri, team leader and my room-mate, so much fun to be around she bore the responsibility well
- Jerry and Carol: Jerry doesn't say much but when he does it's either very insightful and brilliant or downright funny! Carol is wonderfully soft spoken and is a writer. I look forward to reading her interviews and impressions
- Steve: called me in Istanbul as we were there earlier than most. I met him in the lobby and we spent a great day together exploring the markets and cruising the Bosphorus. Steve is AMAZING...in his 70's he's English, has lived in Japan for a few decades and has been on several builds. 50 years ago Steve and another man took a worldwide trip, setting off from England with 36 pounds (not much) and worked their way through Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos.....so many places. It took 3 years and he met his love in Japan and worked his way back to her. This was published in an English paper and we read the copy. Now he is retracing his steps...after he left us he went to Ankara in Turkey to get a visa to Iran...God Speed and keep in touch.
- Michael and Barbara: from California, Barbara is a great photographer (I'm depending on her) and Mikey is so dang funny, the guys at the job site warmed up to him immediately. He was always making us laugh.
- Rex: from Baltimore
- Me, from Portland
Farhod and Mahmudjon: our guides, interpreters, negotiators. They were so patient to always explain, answer questions and through everything have an incredible sense of humor. Interpreting is never easy, from people who do it I've heard it's mentally exhausting and the brain has a card file of words, particularly if more than one language is known. But it's the nuances and translations beyond the literal that make it a challenge. These two did very well for us and showed that they have a very savvy sense of people and sense of humor.
