Migrant worker takes the long route home

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Nazarali (right) did something so extraordinary the whole village of Pichandoch is talking about it.
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Nazarali says it is thanks to Gaodali that he knew enough about TB not to bring it home with him. Villagers find it remarkable that Nazariali went straight to hospital rather than just going home.
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As a precaution Nazarali sent his family by car to the regional TB center to be tested; none of them had caught TB.
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Last April Nazarali left his wife and family behind in his home village of Pishandoch and made the two thousand mile journey to Moscow to find work.
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Tajikistan has an estimated 1.5 million migrants working abroad, mainly in Russia. One of Tajikistan’s major sources of income has been migrant workers sending money home. These remittances make up between 30 and 50 percent of Tajikistan’s gross domestic product.
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Nazarali found work as a builder but living conditions were tough, sleeping four to a room. After the first couple of months he got sick. He couldn’t work because he was so weak, that was the first symptom, then the cough.
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He tried to treat himself in the single rented room in Moscow, but was in more pain than ever. His landlord advised him to return to Tajikistan where treatment would be cheaper. So he flew back, but although he longed for his wife’s care, he didn’t go home immediately.
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Nazarali went straight from the airport to Tajikistan’s main tuberculosis facility, Machiton Hospital. He was given a full examination and tests confirmed TB. He was referred to a local clinic closer to home and more convenient for getting treatment.
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Nazarali was given TB treatment and instructions on how to take it. He was told how to avoid passing TB on to his family while still infectious. Once home he stayed in a separate room from the rest of the family for a full two months.
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Every day he got a visit from Gaodali, the village health outreach worker. A teacher by profession, with 11 children of his own, Gaodali is trained in how to supervise TB treatment. He also talks to fellow villages to make people more aware of the disease and how it spreads.
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Gaodali still makes regular visits to Nazarali to make sure he continues to take his treatment. It’s a six month course and there are just two months to go. Then Nazarali should be cured.

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Migrant worker takes the long route home in Tajikistan

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