When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Russia

To The Hills Of Tajikistan, Where The Men Have Gone Away

A visit inside a Tajik village that has sent nearly all of its men to work in Russia. These are the people affected when President Dmitry Medvedev talks about restricting Tajik guest workers in Russia.

Villagers in Tajikistan's Fann Mountains
Villagers in Tajikistan's Fann Mountains
Darya Yurshina and Aleksei Golubtsov

ALAUDIN VALLEY – Russia's relationship with Tajikistan has soured following an incident involving a Russian pilot who was jailed – along with his Estonian co-pilot – after making an emergency landing in the Central Asian nation.

Russia responded by beginning to deport Tajik guest workers, a move that threatens Tajikistan's entire economy. In total, some 700,000 Tajik citizens work in Russia. In the last quarter, they sent home some $742 million in remittances. Overall, the money guest workers send back makes up half of the republic's government budget.

The Alaudin Valley is in the Fann Mountains in eastern Tajikistan. The place long held an allure for Russian writers and adventurers. Later, during the Soviet era, it was a popular tourist destination. Yet establishing a strong relationship with the people of the mountainous region is not easy.

Men are a rarity in the area. Nearly every family has at least one breadwinner working in Russia, if not more. The farm work falls to the women, who divide it up among themselves.

Each summer, the village chooses the most experienced and skilled women to take all of the cows (up to 300 of them) to the summer pastures high up on in the mountains. The women spend four months there with their children, since there is no one to leave the children with. They milk the cows and prepare products for the winter: cheese, butter and kaymak, a traditional clotted cheese. These fermented goods get them through the winter when snow and avalanches cut off all contact with civilization.

Residents here generally have two questions for visiting Russians. The first one, given the Alaudin Valley's dependence of remittances from Russia, is obvious: Is President Dmitry Medvedev going to limit the entry of Tajik guest workers? The second question is less obvious: Are there cows in Moscow? The Alaudin Valley's women truly can't imagine life without either.

Read the original story in Russian.

Photo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:People_of_Fanns.JPG

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

How WeChat Is Helping Bhutan's Disappearing Languages Find A New Voice

Phd candidate Tashi Dema, from the University of New England, discusses how social media apps, particularly WeChat, are helping to preserve local Bhutanese languages without a written alphabet. Dema argues that preservation of these languages has far-reaching benefits for the small Himalayan country's rich culture and tradition.

A monk in red performing while a sillouhet of a monk is being illuminated by their phone.

Monk performing while a sillouheted monk is on their phone

Source: Caterina Sanders/Unsplash
Tashi Dema

THIMPHU — Dechen, 40, grew up in Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. Her native language was Mangdip, also known as Nyenkha, as her parents are originally from central Bhutan. She went to schools in the city, where the curriculum was predominantly taught in Dzongkha, the national language, and English.

In Dechen’s house, everyone spoke Dzongkha. She only spoke her mother tongue when she had guests from her village, who could not understand Dzongkha and during her occasional visits to her village nestled in the mountains. Her mother tongue knowledge was limited.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

However, things have now changed.

With 90% of Bhutanese people using social media and social media penetrating all remotes areas in Bhutan, Dechen’s relatives in remote villages are connected on WeChat.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest