Others didn t understand that. Yes, a democratic life, and raise it to a higher level. Unfortunately, Tajikistan hurtled to a lower level than ever imagined at the same time that other former Soviet republics were staggering out of their shock from lost subsidies and guaranteed markets and lurching toward some form of political and economic equilibrium. In 1997 alone, hyperinflation sapped the value of the new Tajik ruble by half. Tajikistan s infant mortality, always the leader among Soviet republics, stands alarmingly high at 115 per 1000.
Most families have no access to potable water.
And although the potential for hydroelectric power is formidable in this land of towering mountains, many parts of the republic, including the capital, go without electricity and heat during the winter. The signs of war and blight punctuate the drive southward from Dushanbe, through the miles of scrubby cotton plantations past village upon village of gutted mud houses. In addition to meeting the urgent demand for housing materials for the newly arrived refugees, Save the Children is rebuilding some of the wrecked schools across the south. But Tajik children, already severely disadvantaged by a half-decade of upheaval, lack not only books but warm clothes and shoes to enable them to attend school in the winter. Tajikistan thus poses an ongoing challenge to be placed on the continuum from emergency aid to development.