Operation Mercy Tajikistan

Business Classes Give Students Practice

webmaster — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:05:24 +0000

The ‘Start Your Own Business’ class offered at Operation Mercy is a two week class in which people can learn how to start and maintain a successful small business. Students are of all ages and backgrounds. Some are recent graduates from various universities, while other people are seeking new business opportunities as the Tajikistan economy strengthens.

HIV Education Surveys in Southern Villages

webmaster — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:11:11 +0000

Some of our staff took a long ride south into some villages to do a survey involving HIV education to assess the need for village-based HIV training. After a long ride in a small van with a couple of sheep, our team was able to go door to door asking women about their awareness of HIV Aids and prevention.

Small Business Opportunities for Women in the Village

webmaster — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:43:51 +0000

Teaching Grandma about HIV

webmaster — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:23:20 +0000

I joined a group of ladies sitting on the floor of someone�s home in a small village. They were having a health lesson with two female doctors – my colleague who is our health education manager and an obstetrician-gynecologist from the local hospital.

I later learned that one lady has three grandchildren, another five.
But the lesson wasn�t about flu shots, calcium supplements or aging gracefully. There was a chart showing the ways that HIV spreads and photos showing people wasting away from AIDS. There was a little discussion about whether a son or son-in-law might have a wife or girlfriend in both Russia and in Tajikistan. (One million men travel to Russia to seek work each year.) My colleague spoke about how important it is to use a clean needle every time an injection is given. A higher percentage of medicines are administered by injection here and people sometimes reuse needles. Even these grandmothers could themselves face HIV infection if their husband is unfaithful. Unfortunately, there is no shame involved if a man calls his lover a second wife.The lesson closed with questions about female sterilization. (�Three children is enough�, one woman said.) Then my colleague solicited requests for future women�s health topics. Because of the real possibility of HIV infection occurring within their families, it�s important that the women know about this disease. However, when we walked down the muddy street after the lesson ended, I felt a little like opening their eyes to the facts had added another burden for them to carry.

IT Department Responds To The Changing Needs Of Tajikistan With Access To Affordable Computers Class

webmaster — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:06:59 +0000

The IT project began in Dushanbe in the form of free email centers. By providing free email access to hundreds of people, Operation Mercy put Tajikistan on the map of countries with online access. People became aware of the many benefits of email and internet use for business and personal use through these free email centers.

As the economy began to recover from the civil war, Internet service providers began to open in Tajikistan, and people understood the value of paying for internet use. Now there are no free email centers in Tajikistan, because the economy can support internet cafes. The fact that people are now able and willing to pay for internet access is just one sign of the improving conditions in Tajikistan.

Operation Mercy holds a diversity of different computer classes. Computer Literacy classes in Russian or Tajik help people new to computers understand the basics of using windows for personal or business use. Classes such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Access are more specific classes to help people in their workplaces.

A new class that has been added to the Operation Mercy roster is Access to Affordable Computers. This class, which is currently offered once a month, allows students to train on a computer that they will keep at the end of the class. By taking the computer home, they are able to continue to practice what they have learned and improve their skills.

Each of the computers has been donated from the United States, and must be completely formatted and reloaded with the Linux operating system. Linux is open-source software, which means that it is free. All of the software that runs on Linux is also free, so users have access to a wide range of quality software at no cost.

During 2006, nearly 40 people participated in the course and received their own computer. Jamila was one of these students. She works as a waitress in a caf�. Now that she has taken the course and has her own computer at home to practice with, she is much more competent and confident in working with computers, and her employer is now training her do some of the administrative computer tasks for the caf�.

Rustam is another student. Like many participants, he had experience working with computers prior to participating in the course, but he wanted to have his own computer. As soon as he completed the course, he began to upgrade his computer to improve its performance. He is excited to continue growing in his computer skills and knowledge on his own computer.

For 2007, the IT project hopes to provide training and computers to more than 200 people in Dushanbe and to expand the project to other campuses in other cities as well. In doing so, Operation Mercy is continuing to bring hope by helping to improve the lives of the people of Tajikistan.