Spiritual leader doubles as public health educator

“It’s a sin to live a passive life. If you see a blind man walking towards a well, it’s your duty to say something,” Mullah Salohideen said with conviction — looking up from studying a brochure on childhood illness in the village clinic’s only empty room.
The local religious leader continued to speak passionately about the chief health concerns in Mastcho district of Northern Tajikistan, interspersing public health quips with Qur’anic references and poetic proverbs. Within minutes, it became clear that his philosophy of moral responsibility goes far beyond words.
As a locally-respected voice on Islam, tenured history teacher and active community member, Salohideen is the ideal public health educator and community mobilizer. “After the fall of the Soviet Union, I was able to bring together what we always knew as opposing ideologies: secularism and religion,” explains Salohideen. With the support of Mercy Corps field staff, Salohideen was able to fully transform his hybrid beliefs into action when he joined his local Village Development Committee (VDC) in 2009.