Children of the Pamirs Education Fund Opened – August 6, 2019
BREAKING NEWS!
We were shocked when this young girl waded out into the creek and took the brush from Gary’s hands.
A feature article on The Magic Girl of the Pamirs has been published in the Fall 2019 issue of Overland Journal. The story describes how we met a young 11-year old girl we are now sponsoring. We had backed into a small creek to wash dust off The Turtle V, high in the Pamir Mountains (10,000 ft.) of Tajikistan during our Silk Road Expedition in 2014. This fearless young girl simply walked into the water, took the brush from Gary’s hands and started helping. Without a common language her eyes, her smile and her no-fear self-confidence told us much more than words could have said.
Her ability to adapt from milking goats to city life and a very demanding education program was remarkable. Yes, she still knows how to milk goats!
In the course of the last two years, with our help, she has transformed her life from gathering firewood and milking goats in her remote mountain village to becoming a teenage “city girl”, now studying at the prestigious Aga Khan Lycée private school in the town of Khorog, with 17 subjects 6 days a week and extra English and math classes on Sunday.
Her transition into becoming a student and a teenager in the city has been remarkable and rewarding for both her and us.
During a short visit last year to see firsthand how she was doing, we learned about many other young children that, for lack of funds in this very poor region of Tajikistan, could not get a better education which would help improve their own lives, their family’s and their community. The average income in Khorog is about $100 a month, putting better schools and learning tools like a computer and access to the internet out of reach for most families. Seeing this on a personal level prompted us to start “The Children of the Pamirs Education Fund” through DonorBox.
During a visit to Tajikistan’s capital she and her friend enjoyed city life with ice cream, pizza, malls, escalators, movies and a beauty parlor. It was a new world!
If you wish to help with our efforts, there is a link on our home page, www.turtleexpedition.com or you can access the DonorBox Fund directly. All donations will be used exclusively to help a child get a better education. If you wish to sponsor an individual child for a year or longer as we are doing, given the internet and apps like WhatsApp, we can help you establish a direct contact with the young person to get involved in his or her life. It’s been a very rewarding experience for us. If you simply choose to make a personal donation, we will be writing occasional news updates on the progress.
To touch the past, Touch a Rock.
To touch the present, Touch a Flower.
To touch the future, Touch a Life.
To change a life, Teach a Child.
Thanks, Gary and Monika
-
- At 11 years old, there was a look that clearly said, “Whoever you are and wherever you came from, I am here.” “I was waiting for you.”
-
- Ready for school in her winter uniform, she looks quite professional.
-
- We were invited for a traditional luncheon where we met the family she is living with in Khorog.
-
- DREAM BIG! We were visiting the nearby Central Asia University in Khorog.
-
- Following the Silk Road along the Afghan border we found a treasure we had never expected.
-
- Powdery dust billowed around us as we climbed through the high mountain passes of the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan following the Silk Road.
Gary, you and I worked for Settie at the Sugar House together many years ago now. I’ve followed you since then. This effort you’re making for the children is wonderful. God bless you. Michael