Mark Tilchen

A Tajik Girl Mark Tilchen

A Tajik Girl is the inspirational true story of an unlikely household, an American man who never wanted children and a teenage girl from Tajikistan with an impossible dream. It was not within Shahlo's society to achieve her vision, but life was not going to tell her so. Mark and wife Kristi would become Shahlo's foreign exchange student family. Touching the heart of everyone she would meet, this was a destiny that would one day leave Mark missing hearing the words, "hi dad."

In telling Shahlo's story, the author is also telling his own. The reader will gain a heightened appreciation for what we have as Americans and learn a better understanding of other cultures. This is indeed a small world, rendered even smaller as Shahlo's encounters reveal.

How is it possible a person born in America shall be provided the opportunity to reach his or her potential while a person with the same natural ability in an impoverished country may not. We know the answer. The true dilemma is why we allow that to happen. A Tajik Girl asks the question, is there a better path to world harmony than the predictable path, through war.