Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives and emotions about this world.
In these difficult times in human history, we need to bring the cultures of the world
together.
And when we listen to real people, to real lives of women from other countries, we connect
our humanity without our differences or stereotypes and we get inspired by their stories to live
a better life.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Gul Rukhsor Vanjieva.
Gulia is a social entrepreneurship student at American University of Central Asia.
Originally from Tajikistan, she is currently living in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Gulia is an English instructor at Skyeng, teaching the English language to teenagers
and adults, and she participated in a camp to help prepare school children for university
entrance exams.
Gulia loves music, reading books and helping people, and she played basketball for five
years.
Gulia, how are you today?
Hello, everyone.
Thank you very much for telling about myself.
I really appreciate it.
Actually, I'm feeling norm.
Everything is fine.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
And I'm really curious to know more about you.
So I'll begin with this nice first question.
If your friends could describe your personality, what would they say about you?
Okay, thank you very much for the question.
I would say maybe my friends who can describe me in three words, it is sometimes introvert,
sometimes extrovert, and a calm person.
I like that.
But it makes me wonder, the fact that you moved from your country to a whole new country
as an sometimes introvert person, a person who is calm, did you find it difficult to
make friends with new people?
What did you do in order to build new relationships?
Or do you feel that the culture in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are somewhat similar enough
that you didn't have any culture shock or big difference?
That is really very important and interesting question.
Actually, when I came here, I saw a lot of differences between the culture of Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan.
And I would not say this was a cultural shock, but still I was kind of shocked by some parts.
And yeah, that was really difficult for me to make new friends or have relationship with
new people.
And it's like since 2019 I'm here, but I cannot say that I introduced with a lot of people.
But like my environment is still the friends that I had before and I'm happy with that.
But still I want to make new friends, like to be introduced with others.
But that is kind of difficult for me to do and I'm working on it.
And I saw really a lot of differences between two cultures.
Thank you.
That's so interesting.
And to ask you even more, like some people in this world don't know too much about the
culture of Tajikistan.
If you could describe in 2023 already, how is a Tajik girl your age?
What are your attitudes?
What are your thoughts?
Are you a mix of the cultures of the world because of Hollywood and YouTube and K-pop
and anime and movies and music, et cetera?
Or is there something that can be described as a traditional girl from Tajikistan?
Can you talk about this a bit more?
Okay, good.
Yeah, for me, it's always a big pleasure to talk about my tradition and my culture.
And I would say that Tajikistan have a very diverse culture.
And even if it is not that much big country and with not a lot of population, but still
it can have different cultures and even religion.
So the culture that I have, like I'm from Tajikistan living in Pamir in Khorog.
And Pamir, it's a little bit different from other regions that is located in Tajikistan.
And actually, yeah, we as Pamirians, we always, our cultures is always on the first place
for us, like it is part of our life which we want to kind of introduce to the world.
And yeah, concerning about the anime and I am cultural person, but we have like this,
we can see other cultures and what is happening in the world.
And the thing is that, which is very important for us, we don't want to forget about our
culture.
Like we need to develop through our culture.
We can add new things, but we will not forget or eliminate those that were for us from our
ancestries or relatives.
Thank you.
That's really great, especially nowadays where so many cultures are being lost, are
dissipating, are disappearing.
And to ask you even more, social entrepreneurship, how did the idea come to you?
How did you make this decision?
What did you feel was the importance of studying this subject?
Can you tell me more about this choice and decision?
Okay.
So actually that was kind of a big decision that I made because as social entrepreneurship
it can have some connection to business and also it is through its name we can understand
that this is a work that can be socially working with community, working with people, working
with society.
So the place where I came from, the life is not that much easy there.
And also it can be financial difficulties or it can be kind of opportunities.
I mean that there are not a lot of opportunities for people to get the education or to develop
themselves in the schooling sphere or in their career or whatever.
So that's why social entrepreneurship, this is a part of which can help me to help to
my community, to give them the opportunity.
So to create the thing that can bring them benefit and that can somehow help them to
develop themselves no matter it is in sphere of education or it is in sphere of like business,
like something else.
The thing is that I'm learning it right now in order to find for me the appropriate idea
in the future which can help, which can really have a big and positive influence on my community
from where I came.
Thank you.
That's so wonderful and very well said.
And it's important for you to help people, to give them the possibility to take advantage
of opportunities.
Why is that important for you?
Is it because you love to feel useful?
Is it because when you see people have opportunities, it makes you think, yes, me too, when times
are difficult, I can find always people to help, I can find opportunities.
Or maybe it's the culture of Tajikistan to be so kind and generous and all that.
To you personally, what motivates you to put effort into helping people in the ways that
you do?
Okay, that's a good question.
Actually, the very first thing is that personally, I really like helping people.
Like whatever I know, the education that I have or the knowledge that I have, I'm really
for sharing, for teaching, and what I can help.
The way I can help, I really want to do it.
And the second thing is, yes, this is a tradition and culture, the Pamiris culture, this is
what it stands for.
We as the Pamirians, we are very united.
And what we can do is like helping each other, and we can say we are a region, like GBAO,
this is the name of the region as located in Tajikistan from where Pamirians live there.
So as a region, we are one region, like we are kind of united.
So people there, actually, when you go from your home to school, you can meet a lot of
your relatives in road or just friends because people know each other very well, and people
are always ready to help each other.
So this is a part of our culture.
Even any difficulties, it is not about what I say, let's career or knowledge, any difficulties
you can face, you can be kind of, how can I say, you can be, a person can actually know
that I will be out of this difficulty because I have people who can help me, actually.
So that's why this is part of our culture.
And that's why I want to do as a help or the way it goes.
Thank you so much.
That's absolutely great.
And you mentioned that you noticed the difference between your culture, the Pamiri culture,
if I'm saying it correctly, and Kyrgyzstan.
Can you share some of the things that you notice, wow, this is different.
They do it in a different way than us.
So maybe some people can learn more both about your culture and what you experienced in a
new culture.
Yeah, the culture, the Pamiris culture, it's different from Kyrgyz.
I cannot kind of mention the specific differences, but the general thing that I saw is that the
unity, like maybe here it's, I don't want to kind of say something like which can hurt
someone or like that.
But what I saw here, maybe the country is bigger, I mean the city, and people are kind
of not that much united.
It is people who just live within their families.
But in Pamiris, like even you are my neighbor, so that means that that is not just a neighbor.
That can be more than neighbor.
You are my neighbor.
You are my brother.
You are my sister.
Whatever happens to you, I'm always ready to help.
But here I didn't saw it, but I don't know really the reason, and it's normal completely.
I accept it, but this is the difference that I saw.
I can imagine all that.
You described it in a really good way, and therefore let's speak about the English language.
What motivated you to develop yourself in this language?
Did you feel that maybe the education around you for English was great?
Or are you trying to change the education with your own way as an instructor in order
to help people develop their English speaking?
What is the value and importance of speaking English as a person, any person from Tajikistan
or from Central Asia?
Okay, the thing is that when I was a child, I didn't have a lot of thoughts about why
I'm learning English or for what purposes.
The thing was that my family always supported me and kind of taught me that you need to
study it because you can have a good career or you can have a good future through speaking
English and learning English.
Before I didn't understand it, but I just learned that the thing my mom and my aunt
or my family told me, I can't go against their thoughts and their opinions that they
said to me.
So actually when I grew up, then I understood that why every time they told me that you
need to learn it.
So right now I'm very grateful for them, but they always showed me my ways and my steps
that I need to do.
And the thing is that as we already see, English is all over the world and if you know English,
you can have much more opportunities for finding a job or for applying to a better position
or whatever.
And this is the one reason.
And the other reason is that that is a very big reason that I will say, but it is mostly
about the religious part.
And as a religious part, I don't want to talk about the religious part a lot, but the thing
is that my religion really motivated me to study English and to develop through English
language.
Thank you.
And of course, I respect that we shouldn't make this a podcast about religion or politics,
but it's about you, your experiences and your life.
And therefore, what would be your ideal future?
Is it that after you finish all you need to do in Kyrgyzstan, you want to return back
home and educate people or do you feel you want to spend a few years maybe living a little
bit in London, a little bit in New York to explore the world, a little bit in Tokyo before
you decide or what would be the next chapters that will fit your personality and make you
feel, yes, this is my path?
Okay.
So the way we see the world, nowadays, the technology is developing that much.
It's very developed.
The civilization is going very fast.
And I think that even if I go far away to America or to Tokyo, that would not be an
obstacle for me to help to my community or to do my plans that I have right now.
Yeah, I am planning to, okay, God knows what will happen, but still what my plans are,
I am planning to apply or to find a job somewhere in Europe or it can be America far away.
Yeah.
And the thing is that why I am doing it, because as from my experience, in Tajikistan, there
are not a lot of opportunities for finding a job and helping to my community.
Therefore, this is the first reason why I am planning to move a little bit far.
In order to achieve my goals, I should first of all be a little more financially stable
and then I can help somehow to my community.
So that's why I think in order to achieve or to accomplish this goal, I can find the
opportunity mostly in Europe or in America.
So that's why.
But as I said, that is not an obstacle because I still can have the chance to make my dreams,
I can say come true through a distance kind of, yeah, through distance.
I support your dreams and to be able to make them come true.
And you mentioned finding a job at the same time you're studying entrepreneurship.
How does that relate to each other?
I mean, most entrepreneurs are waiting to try any idea.
I know you said you are looking for the right idea to start your business, but a lot of
entrepreneurs do it because they don't like being an employee, they don't like having
a boss, they want to be their own boss.
Do you have those desires or is it for you really about the social part even more than
the entrepreneurship part?
No, actually, that's not about me.
Like if I'll have a boss or if I'll have someone who will kind of give me the instruction what
I need to do.
The thing is that if the position fits me and if I like it, so I will work in this position.
So for me, it doesn't matter.
But the second thing that you said, yes, it's about helping the community and it's about
somehow devoting your time and energy on social problems which can influence positively and
kind of from the problems which can help me to make free people who have difficulties
nowadays.
But concerning the job, the position, if I would have the opportunity, I will open my
own business.
If I will have the chance to work in a good position, I'll do that as well.
So I'm fine with that.
Thank you so much.
And you chose the American University of Central Asia.
How did this decision come to be?
You could have chosen any other university in the world.
So why this choice and what interested you and attracted you to study in that institution?
Okay, there are actually different reasons.
But the thing that you mentioned about the world, you know, as a student from Tajikistan
and I didn't have a lot of opportunities to apply to a university that I wanted.
But still, American University of Central Asia, it was on my list.
And I am right now really satisfied and I'm not regretting about anything.
And the second thing is that I applied here and got the full scholarship, which really
motivated me to come and study here and right now I am 100% satisfied.
Thank you so much for Gulia for sharing about your life, about your experiences, your perspectives
and about your culture.
This was my privilege, my honor, such a wonderful way to explore your culture and to celebrate
you.
So I thank you for participating in this project and I wish you a good day.
Thank you very much actually for giving such opportunity and I'm very happy to see such
kind of projects that can help women and can develop and can help even we can say it can
influence in the community and in the society.
So I wish you a very, very big luck, have a great day and a great and good luck.
