Uzbek philanthropy
Politics and Society, Uzbekistan4 Comments
Uzbek people, and Central Asian nations in general, are known for their philanthropy. The Shomakhmudovs are one of the examples to prove my point. They adopted 14 orphans of different nationalities from the orphanage that was moved to Tashkent from Russia during the World War II. A monument for the Shomakhmudovs used to be one of the visited places in Tashkent, until the Tashkent city council decided to dismantle it.
Uzbek philanthropy has long historical roots. From ancient times, hashar has been one of the integral parts of the Uzbek culture. Hashar is a voluntary work of a group of people to help a poor or needy person. Personally, I had participated in many hashars and I can say for sure that people enjoy it. People enjoy doing hashar, as they know that they are helping a needy person. They are sure that if tomorrow they will be in need, others will help just like this - enjoying it. And no need to ask or invite people to come to hashar. All you need is just tell them [community, relatives] you are doing hashar and I am sure everyone will do their best to come and help you. If they cant come, they buy some food for those, who work in your hashar. I dont know whether or not this exists in other cultures, but hashar surely one of the interesting features of Uzbek society.
Looking at new videos in Youtube, I came across to a very interesting piece of video, where a young Uzbek student helps people living along Mississippi river, US, to stop the record-rising level of the river with the help of sandbags. Uzbek even in America remains Uzbek :)
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hehe its very uzbek of him
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paraphrasing: Uzbek is Uzbek even in America :)
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Despite various viewpoints, I have to admit that from now on dwellers of that particular area, basucally know about Uzbekistan, and its generous people.
Good job!..
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