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The dates for my project in Tajikistan is moved forward to September. I will go there at the 1st of September and come back at the 13th. I have not had time to update this blog for a while and I will not to it during the next 7-10 days either since i will be travelling in Poland, Lithuania and Estonia.

Enjoy the summer, it's very short. At least up here. And do not forget to visit this site regurly during the fist half of September.

So, it is time to tell the world a little bit about my project in Central Asia. I am studying at MKFC Stockholm folkhögskola. The course I am taking is actually called “East-Africa studies”, a somewhat confusing name considering I am not going to East Africa. But the course is about development aid and international cooperation in general. Each student is supposed to independently come up with an international aid program in some form anywhere in the world. Of course the destination and the program has to be accepted by the school.

A very brief description of my project:

I will bring two laptops computers to Dushanbe. Originally I had plans on bringing several more, but since I have not solved the transportation issue, I will only take as many as I can carry myself. These two computers will be distributed to either one of the schools in Dushanbe or to the Islamic University. The computers are provided by an organisation called ICT4Africa. They normally donate computers to African countries, but were kind enough to help me aswell despite the fact that I do not work with Africa.

I will also, on my own expense (or rather on the expense of CSN, the Swedish government-runned provider of student loans) buy books, paper, pencils and stuff like that for the schools. This will of course be made from local retailers to avoid a crowding out of the domestic market, a common problem in international donations.

All schools that I work with has already co-operationprograms with international organisations, which is especially important concerning the safety of the computers. I would not want them to disappear from the schools when I have left….

The detailed plans will not be made until I am in Dushanbe. It is much easier to determine what the schools exactly needs when I am there.

I have found a cheap travel insurance that cover medical expenses if I will be injured or sick in Tajikistan. It costs me only 43 Euros for two weeks and is found here World nomads. Much better price than the traditional providers of travel insurance that I have found. Hopefully I do not get sick during the last two days when the insurance is not valid anymore...

I also found out that for Russia it will be enough for me with a transit visa since I will be in St petersburg for less than 72 hours. So that too should reduce my costs.