Shohruz (UWCD'21) is our student from Tajikistan, whose scholarship to UWCD is supported by Shelby Davis. Over the summer Shohruz with a group of friends created a school back home - they managed to find a venue, get support and taught unprivileged children from the village. Here is what Shohruz says about his project.

❝Growing up in a rural area of Tajikistan, where the majority of the men have been emigrating to Russia and engaged in construction works leaving behind their families to pursue the happiness of their lives, I used to ask my parents and teachers the reason why those people do not work in Tajikistan. Their answer to my question was the lack of plants and factories and hence work opportunities in my country. However, after going to school and learning about the natural resources of my country in my geography class, I got to know that my country is rich in natural resources. Furthermore, we were taught that young individuals comprise the majority of the population, but there are no qualified specialists in many areas. 

In my opinion, education is one of the most important tools that can bring success in our society. Education lessens the challenges we face in life. Coming to UWC Dilijan more opportunities have opened up to allow me to achieve better possibilities in my career and personal growth. I have obtained high-quality education, made international friends and shared my culture with them. I would like to see other students from rural areas having this experience. Therefore, considering all the challenges we faced as rural area students in our studies, such as lack of technology and the internet connection, good teachers and access to information about the opportunities to study abroad, my friends who are also studying abroad and I decided to open the first educational centre in our village. We aim to provide the rural area students with better conditions for education and allow them to become qualified and have the opportunity of studying abroad. Returning as qualified specialists to Tajikistan they will be able to contribute to the development of the country. In our educational centre we teach English, Russian and Math to students. Also, we conduct informative sessions about programmes for studying abroad. Two years ago, there were only two of us who applied to UWC from my village and contentedly this year around 10 students are applying to UWC and other programmes.❞ 

We are really proud of Shohruz and happy to see that the chain of kindness continues!