To my surprise, what passed me by were not simply women in an array of coloured moo-moos (the Tajik National Dress is in the family of nighties or moo-moos). Instead, white Land Cruiser after Land Cruiser raced down Rudaki Avenue. All seemed to be speeding to the next important meeting, from one Regional Office to another – bearing the logos of each and every international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) one could imagine. I’ve seen the Red Cross/Crescent (ICRC), Mercy Corps, Caritas, Convoy of Hope, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), CARE and Oxfam tooting around town, but today something was stirring down a small alley to my
left.One after another, the logo-ed Land Cruisers of UNHCR (Refugees), UNICEF (Children), UNEP (Environment), UNDP (Development), and the World Food Program pulled in beside me. My curiosity was sparked, but I was the only one. These big white beasts are as regular in Dushanbe as watermelons in the summer – only what comes inside better than juicy red fruit to local entrepreneurs. Typically, a well-paid foreigner emerges with dollars to spend, despite the falsified inflation.
I couldn’t help but have a bad taste in my mouth at the white caravan of creatures the Aga Khan Development Network (and ALL of it agencies) had parked in the back of our building. Sporting red diplomatic license plates, I wondered why we didn’t simply drive cars around the city or why the SUVs needed to be white. It all seemed very pretentious and part of the international community’s game. White saviors in white caravans, here to offer help and hope and save the poor innocent souls. I didn’t want to be a part of it.
The man on the other side of the small opening in the wall handed me my cell phone and new phone number, the AKF Cruiser pulled up, and I breathed a sigh of relief at the cool air as I slunk into the backseat. I had no choice but to resign to my fate as the next White girl in a white Land Cruiser. We were getting ready to go out to the field and there was no doubt that this would be our form of transportation.
On Thursday, July 10th I took up my assigned spot in Habib’s 4x4 ready to see what Life Outside the Dush’ was made of. This country needed to offer me more than Land Cruisers, moo-moos, water fountains, and old Soviet apartment blocks – and I was certain it was all to be found outside the city limits.
About an hour from the security of our paved roads we hit the windy and rocky cliff passages through an all too eerie no-man’s land. The mountains, which had sat in the distant horizon of the capital, suddenly jetted up just meters from our vehicle on the left and plunged straight down into the Sourkhob River rushing below us on our right. We steadily climbed thousands of feet to a region that was in fact very far from the middle of nowhere. Small clusters of homes appeared around rocky corners, hillsides contained herds of goats, and valleys fields were dotted with neatly piled bails of hay waiting to be collected. The mountain village communities are where over 80% of Tajiks spend their lives – and the reality is, this is most-man’s land.
Our three-day field visit would be an adventure as we traveled to three regional offices and over twelve different project implementation sites. At the furthest end of the Rasht Valley, our Land Cruiser hadn’t seen pavement for kilometers and the 4-wheel drive had been engaged continuously. Many times we could not see the road in front of us, as the incline was so steep. At one point, opting to go threw a small stream, rather than over a potentially faulty bridge, the passengers (myself included) let out yelps of excitement and snapped pictures for proof as we plunged forward.As we passed the third Lada broken down on the side of “road” I turned to my co-passengers and finally exclaimed: “I LOVE our Land Cruiser!” I still wish it wasn’t white, but outside of the Capital nothing, particularly the roads, are certain. Soon enough, the rainy season’s landslides and the snowy season’s avalanches will make some wait and others turn back, but in our Land Cruiser we will go forth…
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