Event Location: Kulob, Tajikistan
$331 FLEX Alumni GYSD Grant Funding
$399 cost share from: local government agencies and the American Corner in Kolub
A summer without mosquitoes may sound like a welcomed break from an annoyance, but really it is much more than that for the residents of Kulob, Tajikistan. In the southern districts of the country where malaria is a prevalent disease, FLEX alumni and local residents worked together with the Kulob government’s cleaning department to prepare buildings close to a local hospital for the onset of summer and the onset of mosquito breeding season. Volunteers cleaned the entrances of apartment buildings, pumped the water from basements (breeding grounds for mosquitoes that carry malaria), and spray for other carrying insects. Gulchin coordinated all of these efforts in celebration of Global Youth Service Day and shared information about the youth service weekend with his team of volunteers.
“Given that there are several hospitals behind this huge block of apartments in Kulob” reported Gulchin, “we decided to start working from here and gain support of similar initiatives to help the local community and those in the nearby hospitals.” The alumna recruited 18 local community volunteers to help her clean up the huge block of apartment, which inhibits 130 households with 650 inhabitants and coordinated with the local government and its cleaning department to complete the event.
