Improving Health, Empowering Women

In the Rasht Valley, thousands of families live in small communities located miles from a main road. Program manager Takhmina Sirojova, a former doctor, follows a footpath between homes in one of the most distant villages. Mountains cover 93 percent of the country.

It's a harrowing half-hour car ride from the main road to reach the mountaintop home of 52-year-old Mustafo Begijonov. His small, idyllic village of Sulkhob is among dozens where Mercy Corps has distributed food, seeds and farm tools to improve household harvests. The view from 7,000 feet is spectacular, but the growing season is short. "We have seven months of winter here," says Begijonov.

Sokina, a health volunteer in the tiny village of Mullobadal, explains the basics of "safe motherhood" to the village's 20-person women's committee. "Before Mercy Corps, women didn't pay attention to the dangerous complications that can arise during pregnancy," she explains. Today she's leading an effort to collect around $1 from each household to make sure pregnant women can afford a doctor's visit.

Seventh- and eighth-grade health club members at Garm's School No. 34 enjoy a lighthearted moment during one of several three-minute dramas about the importance of keeping a clean house, brushing your teeth and staying safe from HIV/AIDS. "We stage these plays to encourage people to be healthy," says 14-year-old Shirin (at right).

About a half-dozen of Shahodat's jars of canned food used to explode each winter because of improper canning technique. None burst last year, thanks to instruction she received in Mercy Corps' health and nutrition workshops, held for women in her village. She also learned for the first time how to can cherries, eggplants and other fruits and vegetables. "During winter, these are our vitamin sources."

The number of sick days is down at this six-room school after Mercy Corps worked with officials to organize a health club, construct a new water tap and install hand washing stations next to toilets. Older students even regularly check the fingernails of their younger peers for dirt. "This year, we haven't had any serious health problems," says its vice principal.