Members of the Tajik organization Zanon Dar Kuhhoi Pomir Safina Shohaydarova

I graduated from Khorog State University in 2016 with a degree in Hotel and Tourism Management. I had the opportunity to be part of Women Rockin’ Pamirs during the summer of 2016 – my first mountaineering experience. During this first training session, I obtained technical equipment and learned about trekking. Getting out into the field, in the mountains, was not easy but it taught me a lot. Through the WRIP workshops I have become more professional.

I traveled to the United States in 2014, as part of a study abroad program promoting female leadership, then went to Berlin, Germany in the summer of 2015 to present my research on the development of tourism in the valley of Roshtqal’a.

I am thrilled to continue learning and acquiring more skills and excited to become a professional guide in the coming years, and of course, to encourage other women to get involved in the project. WRIP creates jobs for women in the Pamirs and breaks down stereotypes about our assumed inability to work in the mountains.