2008 Embassy News
Tajikistani city planners return from three-week internship in the United States
Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Ten high-level city planners from Tajikistan returned on Aug. 8 from three-week internships in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Participants in the USAID-sponsored Community Connections program lived with American families, and exchanged ideas on various issues in city planning.
Participants visited institutions responsible for city planning in Jackson, Mississippi, and neighboring cities. They also took part in meetings of the Jackson City Council, whose democracy and transparency amazed the Tajik city planners. Participants noted that the professional aspects of the Community Connections program will contribute to new developments and innovation in the Tajik city planning field.
All participants appreciated the cultural aspects of the program, in particular their homestays with American host families. Participant Jomaboy Rakhmatov stressed that exchange programs promote mutual understanding and cooperation. “Programs like Community Connection help remove boundaries,” he said. “Programs like this remove borders between countries. Even though we flew over the Atlantic, it is like the ocean doesn’t exist."
Community Connections provides an important opportunity for citizens of the United States and Tajikistan to work together to address common professional challenges while expanding their social and cultural understanding. As business and professional communities of both countries rapidly become integrated, opportunities for positive relations between American people and the people of Tajikistan are increasingly important. The Community Connections Program offers community-based, three-to-five week practical trainings in the United States for business and professional organization leaders from Tajikistan.
The Community Connections Program is one of the many assistance projects implemented in Tajikistan by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on behalf of the American people. Since 1993 the American people through USAID have provided about $300 million in assistance programs that support economic growth, democratic institutions, health care, and education in Tajikistan.