Tajik Program Alumni Compete for USG Grants to Support Community Service Initiatives

In January 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, called on study abroad alumni who had participated in U.S. Government-sponsored programs, to submit project proposals for the 2012 Democracy Outreach/Alumni Grants Program and the 2012 Democracy Comission Small Grants Program. This call for proposals succeeds a conference held at the end of last year during which the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, Kenneth Gross, highlighted the contributions of program alumni to the development of Tajik civil society and encouraged them to improve educational opportunities in their country.

In late November 2011, 65 Tajik alumni from U.S. Government-sponsored study abroad programs gathered for a two-day conference in Dushanbe focused on the continuing need to promote education, civil society, and community service in Tajikistan. Conference workshops helped participants develop educational grant proposals to support sectors of the Tajik population in need, such as orphans, women, the elderly, and immigrants.

Alumni from programs administered by American Councils for International Education, such as Open World, Community Connections, FLEX, and the International Sports Programming Initiative, were amongst the 65 conference participants.

Both short and long-term study abroad program alumni are eligible to submit project proposals to the two grant programs. Grant recipients will be announced this summer.

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