Uzbekistan

History

Uzbekistan is a young, independent, and one of the largest countries in central Asia . After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Uzbekistan was re-established as an independent country on August 31, 1991. Situated strategically along the Silk Road, that legendary trade route connecting the western world with the Orient. The region has known many conquerors, from the Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and the hordes of Jenghiz Khan in the 13th century, to the Soviet communists. It lies to the east of Caspian Sea with Kazakhstan to the North and Turkmenistan and Afghanistan to the south.

Eventually the Uzbek a Turkish speaking people took control of their own territory in the 16th century. During the Soviet era, much ecological and economic degradation occurred because of excessive quotas for cotton and rice robbing the Aral Sea of precious water inflow. Poor agricultural practices, improperly constructed irrigation systems, dependence on the USSR for markets, and an authoritarian political system, have contributed to the poverty and hopelessness that fills the hearts of the people.

Today, the country has the largest population of the Central Asian states and an economy based on agriculture, natural resources such as natural gas, gold, uranium, and other minerals of heavy metals.

The contrasts are many in this predominately Muslim nation, and still today one can hear the glorious refrains of Handel's Messiah , superbly sung by students of a local conservatory, to a standing-room-only crowd. Because it is being sung in German, the German Consul gives a brief speech, which is then translated into Russian, still the lingua franca of the cities. The audience is well dressed, all apparently prosperous. In reality, however, many are without jobs, living in deplorable housing and subsisting on little more than bread and tea. The faces of orchestra and chorus members mirror those in the audience - Uzbek, Tatar, Russian, Korean, Armenian, Tajik, Kazakh - a multi-ethnic society struggling to find its identity; a nation, independent now for thirteen years, struggling to find its political footing.

The struggles and challenges are great. This multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, religiously diverse people is in search of a national identity. Facing dire poverty within its borders and political unrest without, the government of Uzbekistan must meet its peoples' needs before desperation leads them into anarchy, yet the Soviet legacy has ill-equipped them to initiate necessary reforms.

And that is where JDA's involvement starts. By helping to shoulder their burdens we can create opportunities where there were none, giving hope where there was once despair. Every village that receives a safe source of water, every widow provided with the means to make a living for herself and her children, every orphan who is given a new set of clothes becomes less vulnerable to the forces of fatalism around them. JDA and its partner agencies are replacing despair with hope as they attempt to meet the physical, spiritual, societal and economic needs of the people.