Pound Ridge Peace Corps Volunteer Returns With Tales from Turkmenistan

The fall of the Soviet Union did not really reawaken a long-dormant national cohesiveness in central Asian independent states such as Turkmenistan, said Peace Corps volunteer Rachel Ostrow.

"The whole area was really just a collection of tribes," said Ostrow, a 2003 Fox Lane graduate and Pound Ridge resident, as she presented a slide show of her experiences at the Pound Ridge Library this weekend. 

But that doesn't diminish the role this predominantly Muslim country could play on the geopolitical stage, she believes.

Moderate in their practice of Islam, she said, "Turkmenistan shows that secular Islam can happen." Additionally, with long, friendly ties to countries such as Iran, this UN-sanctioned neutral nation has the potential to be "a stabilizing force."

In Turkmenistan, family is the main focus of everyday life. "The people are incredibly warm and friendly," she said, and being welcomed in by friends for Sunday dinner was a seven-day-a-week open invitation.

Of course, in her two-year tenure teaching English to Turkman youth, Ostrow encountered differences that are certainly out of step with the freedoms we have here—especially among women.  For one, the wedding ceremony piles on about a 100 pounds of clothing and metal on the bride.

To a 90 pound, usually malnourished young women, this hardship is meant to symbolize the great difficulty of leaving behind family. Once unburdened by the wedding ceremony, the new wife is immediately expected to produce a child and then falls under the thumb of her mother-in-law.

In turn, the wife puts her sewing or cooking skills to work and becomes the main bread winner in the family. 

Technically a democracy with a president and parliament, the reality is that its mostly a rubber stamp, one-party system, Ostrow said.

But she also believes Turkmenistan will continue to progress socially as it has in other areas. 

Things have moved along since Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan's president for life, died in 2006.

The vast wealth comes from the country's natural gas reserves stays contained to the capital city, but modernization is occurring nonetheless. When Ostrow first arrived, hardly anyone had a cell phone, there was no Internet access and very few people traveled in or out of the county.  Now, she said, many students travel abroad for an education, there are numerous Internet cafes in the cities and old women can be seen everywhere yelling into their cell phones.

Ostrow's interest in Turkmenistan was sparked by Central Asian-Russian studies at Mount Holyoke College and placement in the region came as easily as interest.

"If you ask for Central Asia, you get it," she said.

Aside from the teaching responsibilities, Peace Corps volunteers act the role of American ambassadors to counter the misconceptions that arise from the media.  

Letting them know that the stereotypes travel in the other direction is also part of the conversation.  

Returning to the comforts of America left her feeling an element of guilt but a sense of hope was more predominant.

"I think things will continue to change," she said.