Stories of Andrei Zatoka

I remember when I was leaving Turkmenistan for London to see my parents Andrei let me stay over night at his apartment in Dashoguz. His apartment was your typical post-soviet small ugly place, but what he did on the inside was incredible. There were different kind of plant and animal species in most of the rooms. Vines were all around the living room and you see all kinds of rodents and snakes in his office.

I was able to talk to him that night and enjoyed a great conversation about Turkmenistan, the former Soviet Union and the US. He is a brilliant man, who is unassuming and humble. He wife soon left for Russia, but he chose to stay back and help the people of Turkmenistan, even though he had friends who had been arrested and the ecologically club that he started was shut down by the government. I left for London the next day knowing that I had just met one of the greatest men I would ever know.

Another great memory that I have of Andrei is when we came to the city I was working in (Konye-urgench). He came to a school and delivered a presentation on how to build water distillers from regular items like pots and pans. He was showing the community how to build a distiller to prevent people from drinking the polluted water of the Aral area (which Dashoguz is located in). The presentation went very well as he provided a simple but effective way for the average person to improve the health of themself and their family.

For more information on pollution near the Aral Sea Click here