A Tajik story

Fearing that her step father would rape her, Mina’s mother married her off at a young age. The man she married is an alcoholic and abusive. As the daughter-in-law living in community with her husband’s family, Mina lives more like a slave than the woman of dignity she was created  to be. Her day begins at 5:00 a.m. and she works until 11:00 p.m., taking care of children and her in-laws, cleaning and cooking. If she stops to rest she is scolded and sometimes beaten. She is physically, sexually, emotionally and verbally abused. Her husband says, “You are only a slave. Your job is to take care of my parents, clean the house and meet my sexual needs.”

Huma was 24 when she found out she was pregnant. Ever since the doctor told her she was going to have a girl, her husband has been pressuring her to have an abortion. Not long ago, Huma’s husband revealed a secret: he had a wife and children in a neighbouring country. She was the second wife. Her marriage was based on a lie! As she thinks about the baby girl in her womb, Huma has no hope. “If I have a girl”, says Huma, “she will have the same life as me.” Many women are resorting to prostitution because of the emotional and financial strain put on them by family and society.

Last year a charity in Tajikistan contacted us asking for help. They were starting a centre for women. The centre was to offer care and shelter and also job skills training in sewing, computer skills, hairdressing and beautician skills. But they needed resources. In March, we shipped a forty foot container of goods to the centre in Dushanbe. It was loaded with a host of different items - computers, beds, material, furniture, clothes, even hair dressing equipment . A couple of weeks later we learnt that the container had arrived safely. It is a privilege to be able to partner with this wonderful initiative to see healing and hope for the Minas and Humas of Tajikistan.