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Mountain families in Tajikistan receive gift of clean energy for Idi Kurbon holiday

28.08.2020

NGO Little Earth continues to help the most vulnerable families in the mountain communities of the Pamirs in Tajikistan. At the end of July 2020, 46 families received sets of resource-saving equipment thanks to a joint initiative of Little Earth and German NGO SunHelp International.

The distribution of equipment fell on the eve of the Idi Kurbon holiday, or Eid al-Adha in Arabic, which is one of the two most important holidays in Islam – the majority religion in Tajikistan. The families were pleasantly surprised by this holiday delivery, and many of them were able to test their solar cookers and pressure cookers in the preparation of some holiday dishes.

Dozens of households in the high mountain villages of Roshorv and Barchidiv (Bartang Valley, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region) benefitted from this batch of clean energy equipment. The equipment was distributed to 30 families in Roshorv and 15 families in Barchidiv. Another set was donated to a family in the village of Alichur (Murghab district) to test and demonstrate the benefits of using solar energy.

The selection of the recipients of the equipment took place during village meetings, where village leaders - together with local activists and elders - compiled lists of the most vulnerable families. Each set provided consisted of a solar parabolic cooker, a portable lantern with a solar panel, and a pressure cooker.

The devices distributed by Little Earth significantly save fuel consumption, improve sanitation and living conditions, conserve families’ budgets, and help reduce the burden placed on fragile mountain ecosystems.

“In this difficult period, when the economy of Tajikistan continues to suffer seriously from the coronavirus pandemic, when many development projects have been postponed and when remote communities face new threats, we continue to support villagers and contribute to overcoming the crisis,” says Anton Timoshenko, executive director of Little Earth.

Many villages in the upper reaches of the Bartang valley are located hundreds of kilometers away from main roads. Local communities have no access to centralized power transmission networks, with some villages having no power at all. Families here are highly dependent on tree and shrubbery vegetation for firewood as well as dried animal dung for cooking and heating. Local residents often rely on inefficient candles and petroleum lamps for lighting, which sometimes pose a hazard.

The heads of Roshorv and Barchidiv expressed their gratitude to Little Earth for the equipment provided and for its years of work on the implementation of sustainable energy solutions and capacity building for local communities.

News and photo from Timur Idrisov, Natalia Idrisova, Little Earth