To Khorog with love — Sharing the joy of skating half-way around the world

“Our vision for the [Khorog] Park is that visitors will truly think of the time they spend here as ‘quality time’ — in the fullest sense of that word — moments in their lives during which their spirits will be deeply enriched, hours filled with experiences that they will both enjoy and remember as times of blessing.”
— Mawlana Hazar Imam at the Inauguration of Khorog City Park, October 2009

Over a year since its inauguration, Khorog City Park in Tajikistan is abuzz with activity. Zainura Khudoyorbekova is the park’s year-round general manager. This summer, she’s seen children swimming leisurely in the pond, playing football in corners of its patchy greens, and enjoying the play equipment.

But come winter, the park will be blanketed with snow and temperatures will drop to -20 to -30°C. Nevertheless, one thing will remain constant — the children’s fervent desire to keep playing. Dressed in their winter gear, they will zip through the park, past the frozen pond, laughing and throwing snowballs.

Such joyful winter frivolity is also a familiar pleasure to Ismailis living half-way around the world, in Canada. “When you think of a Canadian winter, you think of hockey and skating,” says Nazir Sunderji, a Jamati member from Vancouver.

Upon learning of their Tajik brothers and sisters’ access to the park’s frozen winter pond — a natural skating rink — young Ismailis across the country came together to find a way to share their passion for the winter sport. The Canadian winter tradition, coupled with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, further fuelled enthusiasm for the idea of collecting ice skates.

“Skating was popular in Tajikistan,” says Khudoyorbekova, “but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we did not see it so much.” Khorog Park, which was envisioned by Mawlana Hazar Imam as a “park for all seasons,” with “swimming in the summer... [and] skating in the winter,” was ready to welcome skaters.

Sunderji became part of an effort to collect skates that would be sent to Tajikistan for use at the pond in the winter, and Jamati members from Vancouver to Ottawa joined in. “We coordinated with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and this became very much a youth initiative, because skating is very important to Canadian youth,” said Sunderji.

The Aga Khan Youth and Sports Board for Canada coordinated skate drives on university campuses and helped Ismailis reach out to others in their home communities. In one month’s time the Jamat collected 1 859 pairs of skates, surpassing their original goal by 50 per cent.

The collection helped the youth reach across geographic, linguistic and cultural frontiers and connect with young Ismailis on the other side of the world. Nasheena Wallani, who participated in the effort, saw an opportunity to share the joy of ice skating that she experiences each winter. “I thought about how someone across the world will get to enjoy the same thrill that I do,” she said.

The collection also provided an opportunity for the Jamat to learn about the ongoing efforts for cultural preservation in Tajikistan. Located in the midst of the Pamir Mountains, Khorog Park is a $4 million urban green space built on land that was gifted to Mawlana Hazar Imam. The park was officially inaugurated in 2009 and includes accessible fields, an open-air theatre, a river promenade, a restaurant and teahouse in addition to the pond used for swimming.

Indeed, AKTC’s revitalisation of the park has made it a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. From passers-by who cross through to access other parts of town to picnickers and football players who spend a whole day there, the park was visited throughout the winter last year. In summer time, or during a special festival or holiday, the number of visitors doubled and tripled as visitors came from the surrounding region.

“The youth were excited about this project because of its uniqueness,” says Zahra Shivji, Regional Project Manager for Ontario. Their ability to surpass their collection target was a source of pride and motivation, she continued. As a national project, she said, “it brought the Canadian Jamat together, despite the large geographic distance between regions.”

The skates made a circuitous journey to reach their new destination. Sunderji arranged for the container of boxes to be freighted over to Latvia, then by train to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and the final leg was completed by truck to the city of Khorog, where Khudoyorbekova awaited their arrival last spring.

She recalls the looks on the faces of the children as the boxes were opened. “They looked at me happily and wondered why I hadn’t brought them over before the winter had ended!”

The skates will add to the attraction of the park this winter. Working with Khorog Park’s other caretakers, Khudoyorbekova hopes the park can organise hockey teams and offer skating lessons.

“The poet Saeb Tabrizi, wrote about beautiful gardens, in any season,” recalled Mawlana Hazar Imam at the park’s inauguration, “saying that they are places where even ‘the morning dew awaits with expectant eyes and heart.’”

It is with similarly expectant eyes and hearts that Khorog’s youth await the arrival of snow and the freezing of the pond, so that they can take to the ice with beaming smiles and their sharp new skates.