In the isolated Gorno-Badakshan (GBAO) region of Tajikistan, called the Pamir region, economic opportunities are limited. Men are forced to move to Russia in search of work and women alone manage the households without being able to work.
However, the Russian economic crisis, caused by the fall in oil prices and Western sanctions against Moscow for its role in the Ukrainian conflict, have had a significant impact on the incomes of Tajik households. Women must now find alternatives to support their families.
Convinced that the Pamir mountains have a strong potential for tourist attraction, the Women Rockin’ Pamirs Association (WRIP) wanted to make it a tool for women’s emancipation.
WRIP thus offers training courses to women and teenagers to discover high mountain tourism professions so that they acquire the necessary skills to become professional guides.
In 2019, 12 teenage girls from Khorog (the main town of Pamir), accompanied by a trainer, a geologist, a botanist and a nature park warden, participated in the Wildnerness Camp, a mountain immersion program.
The girls followed several activities specific to the profession of mountain guide: learning to set up a tent, to read a map and to use a compass, as well as an introduction to the geology, fauna and flora of the region.
Some have committed to continuing their training and will likely build the new generation of female professional guides in Pamir.
The Fondation Insolite Bâtisseur Philippe Romero has been financing the training of these young women since 2018.