“…If you have a well educated mind, you will be able to seize the opportunities life offers you…”
– His Highness the Aga Khan, Atlanta, Georgia, April 18, 2008

Since I joined the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in the United States as Programs Fellow in October 2015, I have been involved in various program activities such as developing proposals, writing reports and providing overall support to the Program Department. Being exposed to the projects that have been implemented by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) at large and AKF in particular, I have been very much inspired and amazed by the work that the Network has achieved in the last several decades. Sectors like education, health, rural development, and civil society are of particular importance for the Network.

While in my previous job with Oxfam in Tajikistan, my view of the Aga Khan Foundation’s work inspired me to learn more. In Tajikistan, I worked closely with District Education Departments and the Institute of Professional Development (IPD) in Kulyab region, in the Southeast of Tajikistan. Kulyab is one of the country’s poorest regions and among the most prone to natural disasters. Communities in this area have been repeatedly hit by severe landslides, especially during spring and fall seasons. Schoolchildren are the most vulnerable to such disasters.

Under the agreement with the districts and IPDs, we worked with schools and kindergartens on a range of classroom and community activities to teach kids about natural and man-made disasters, how to respond to them, and help them become resilient communities. Disaster preparedness starts from kindergarten, but there is still a gap implementing this in some parts of the country.

The early childhood development (ECD) centers that were established with the support of AKF in areas where we worked were very supportive and effective in conducting various drills. Children and their parents understood the importance of education (in the case of my work, with disaster preparedness education) and were very eager to learn new things. During one of the meetings with Hadisa Jumaeva, senior specialist at IPD Kulyab, she mentioned that “AKF work in the remote villages of Kulyab is incredible. Parents are very happy that they are engaged in their children’s daily learning process and progress. This is something very new, even for us at IPD.”

My interest in AKF’s work, specifically in education, grew from that time. Although I never worked directly with ECD centers, I witnessed AKF’s progress in education in Kulyab, especially in the community-based Early Childhood Education Program. Today, the community-based ECD program is warmly welcomed by Tajikistan’s Ministry of Education and is a part of preschool curricula across the country. The AKF Education Program with its national partners, in close collaboration with the Tajik Ministry of Education, developed 15 types of story books, which were distributed in kindergartens across the country. Numerous ECD centers and mini-libraries were established in remote areas where there had been no previous access to free books and quality education.

“AKF work in the remote villages of Kulyab is incredible. Parents are very happy that they are engaged in their children’s daily learning process and progress. This is something very new, even for us at IPD.” – Hadisa Jumaeva, Senior Specialist at IPD Kulyab, Tajikistan

Beyond the ECD program, the AKDN operates a range of other institutions such as the University of Central Asia, Aga Khan Lycee, the Aga Khan Academies, and several other initiatives developed to enhance the quality of teachers, the quality of education and the quality of life in general. That commitment to education impressed me.
After careful review of AKF’s work and the impact of AKDN in the country, I decided to apply for the Fellowship Program.

Now at AKF USA for 10 months, I work closely with the Programs Department, which manages the development of proposals for grants and contracts, report writing, mobilizing resources and overall support to other Foundation offices worldwide. With the Programs team, my role involves supporting development of proposals, mostly in education.

For me, joining the AKF fellowship program from outside of AKDN is both challenging and a learning experience. That brings us back to the quotation from His Highness the Aga Khan at the beginning of this post, and a hope: “… if you have a well-educated mind, you will be able to seize the opportunities life offers you…”

By Sayfullo Nusayriev, Programs Fellow for Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. for 2015-2016.