Development Blogs.com

Several years back, I had the privilege (and challenge!) of teaching English for a couple years in a rural village in Central Asia. Almost before I got out my very first “Good morning, class!” my students were asking me why they should even bother learning a language they would never use. Ah ha! I had come to class prepared; I told them that [1] learning any new language is a good mental exercise and can help us understand things about other cultures as well as our own, [2] knowing English gives you a huge advantage in a developing economy – many of the new job opportunities opening up (in IT or tourism, for example) almost require English proficiency, and [3] you just never know when it might come in handy. My answers were met with blank looks. I could hear the placid chewing of...

Afghanistanica pointed out a program that Carpetblog can really get behind. Thanks to Juniata College, a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, you can buy pretty carpets made by an Afghan women's cooperative organized by the Ghazni Rural Support Program (GRSP). A portion of the proceeds will pay for scholarships for young Afghans to attend the college. Learn more about the program here and look at all the pretty carpets! Fair prices, too. What's not to like about that? It's much easier than shopping on Chicken Street in Kabul with armed guards. Carpetbuying should be a force for good, helping women and young people out. Carpetblogger......

In the August 18th parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, Nur Otan party of the authoritarian president Nursultan Nazarbayev trumped the competition, taking all 98 seats. Consiglio Di Nino, the head of the OSCE’s delegation, said the voting was flawed, but remained optimistic that “these elections continue to move Kazakhstan forward in its evolution towards a democratic country.” But this evolution certainly still has a long way to go. According to the preliminary results, Nur Otan received 88 percent of the vote and no other party cleared the high 7 percent electoral threshold required to enter the parliament. But monitors have found irregularities in more than 40 percent of the polling stations they visited, such as inflated turnout numbers, multiple voting, and improper...

Today is Melon Day in Turkmenistan, where, according to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, "since ancient times Turkmenistan has been considered the homeland of the best melons in the world." Dem's fightin' words across the Turkic empire. I don't expect the Uzbeks to take such smack talk lying down. Here in the Carpetblog family, we try to celebrate Melon Day every year, and have been enjoying  our share this summer. We buy them from the Karpuzci (I may have made that word up), who sells them -- sheltered from the sun by their own leaves-- from a horse -drawn cart. Because we lived in Azerbaijan, we know there are dangers associated with watermelon consumption. No matter how orgiastic your Melon Day celebrations may get, be sure not to drink water while eating them or...

I've posted about photog Chris Herwig here before and the damn fine time we had travelling with him through Turkmenistan. He's got two new photobooks of his work in Central Asia, and as always, they kick ass. Go look and......

A wise person once asked, "is it worth it to get your ass shot at to buy carpets in Kabul?" This is the wrong question. How in the world can you come to Kabul and not buy carpets? Indeed, everyone knows getting your ass shot at in pursuit of carpets in Kabul is completely legit.  But taking a few precautions to reduce the risks somewhat might be advisable. Like bringing a driver and armed guard with you. True, having an edgy, hungry, Afghan armed with a Kalashnikov guarding the door of your carpet dealer diminishes the quality of the casual chit chat and increases the general level of tension in the shop. Ramadan complicates things, since you can't have tea and snacks and everyone is crabbier than usual. Even so, negotiations still take place. Foreigners still...

Short Description: Collaboration on experience exchange, teachers training and scientific works and publications exchange programs...

There is no dispute that “Electronic Governance” is gradually entering the domain of public administration concepts and strategies in developing countries. (or, in what we term as the broader governance......

Electronic Governance, in simplest terms, it refers to those governance processes in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are playing an active role in delivering governance related products and......