Faces and Forces of Development

Ramzi: The Boy who Builds Houses with Milk Cartons

Ramzi Gadomamadov is from the Village of Baroj, in the Roshtkala District of Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan. He is in fourth grade at School #22 in the Village of Vijod, which is not too far from his home.

Ramzi's school is one of the 316 schools in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan and 60 schools in Badakhshan, Afghanistan that receive milk as part of the Education Dairy and Nutrition Program. Each day at school, the students receive a serving of milk, which is fortified with vitamins and comes in different flavors, like chocolate, strawberry and peach. The milk cartons have colorful designs.

Ramzi's mother, Oina, is a primary school teacher at the same school where Ramzi studies. Ramzi's father, Atomamad, worked as a master builder in different areas during the Soviet period. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became unemployed officially, but continues to earn his income building houses. Sometimes he takes Ramzi along to job sites so his son can observe how houses are made.

When the milk distribution program began in October 2002, Ramzi's teacher, Julazor Mirzojonova, told the class to save the empty milk cartons. At first the children were surprised at her request. Then she brought a book to class and showed them how to use the milk cartons to create art projects. After looking at the illustrations in the book, Ramzi said, �teacher, I think I can do this. I can make a house out of the milk cartons.� So Ramzi started collecting the empty milk cartons and asked his friend to save them for him as well.

Once he had gathered many milk cartons, Ramzi began to try and build a house. He tried three times before he succeeded at making the house he wanted to create. He brought it to class and showed his teacher and fellow students, who all thought that it was wonderful. It was put on display in their classroom.

Ramzi continued building many more houses and other structures from empty milk cartons, such as a hospital and a grain mill. His creations became more and more elaborate. He would cut the milk carton material and make furniture inside the houses. In the hospital, he put beds, including a section of little beds for the children's ward. He also made a small box that contained cut-up straws for his little sister, Shahnouza, as a learning tool for counting and math exercises.

Ramzi with his father, mother and sister

The Journey of Ramzi's Milk Carton House

One day, staff members from AKF (Tajikistan) came to visit Ramzi's school to see how the Milk Program was proceeding. When they saw Ramzi's �milk house� creation, they were very impressed and told others about it when they got back to their office in Khorog. Soon after that, representatives from the Almaty-based partner organization were visiting the AKF office in Khorog and asked to see the house. So Ramzi decided that he would take the house and give it to them as a gift of gratitude for the milk all the children had been receiving. On the day he set off to deliver the house, he and his friend Shakerbev missed the bus. Instead of waiting another day, Ramzi and Shakerbev walked 20 kilometers from their village to Khorog to deliver it.

His house was first taken to Almaty , Kazakhstan where the people who process and package the milk got to see it. Then the house traveled all the way to America where it was given to the Deputy Administrator of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service, Mary Chambliss. The gift was presented by Iqbal Noor Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. , in February 2003. Ms. Chambliss was thrilled by Ramzi's house, which was put on display at the US Department of Agriculture. Soon after, a story about it was posted on the USDA website. After seeing the website, a local Khorog TV station, did a story on Ramzi, highlighting how his milk carton house traveled around the world, ending up in Washington, DC, as a gift of gratitude to the donor.

An initiative of Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A and
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