Malohat Kamilova and her teen-aged daughter Muhabbat have come to Enschede to build their future.
By 1998, due to political unrest, companies began leaving Uzbekistan, and with them went Malohat's career. At the same time, issues in her personal life left her feeling lost and disappointed. Returning to TSTU proved to be the solution.
There she was involved in a European Union-funded project on Telematics (see `Taking Telematics to Tashkent' October 4, 2001). This program enabled her to come to the UT for two three-month stints in 2000 and 2001. She stresses how supportive her parents - the Uzbek poetess Oydin Hojieva and Uzbek writer Ibrohim Gafurov - were at that time, `They said I was building my future. Having knowledge is even better than having money; it's always with you - no one can steal it.'
While here, she lamented, `It's a pity it's only three months.' One of her UT instructors, Dr. Hans Daeman, encouraged her to apply to a computer research program. From 2002-2004, Malohat worked as a researcher to earn a higher degree in engineering. Because her undergraduate degree was in electrical engineering, she had to catch up with her peers. She found this challenging, but frustrating, often wondering, `Am I too old to start something new?' Her affirmative reply bolstered her philosophy that `learning is a lifelong process.' The next step was to apply to the PhD program in DACS (Design and Analysis of Communication Systems in the faculty of EEMCS). When asked, `Why a PhD?' Malohat replied,' I feel like it's the next milestone in my life. I want this for myself.' DACS liked her answer. After defending her thesis on October 29, 2004, Malohat began the doctoral program a few days later.
She works under Sonia Heemstra de Groot on `Security Architecture of Personal Networks,' dealing specifically with creating a robust network of users' personal devices. Together with a team of researchers from TU Delft, KPN, TNO, Philips and TI WMC, Malohat is working on the Freeband Project: Personal Network Pilot 2008.
Enormously pleased with her research group, Malohat comments on its positive atmosphere, describing her colleagues as `kind, polite, caring, considerate and concerned'. `It feels like a family,' she beams.
In 2002, when Kamiloa left Uzbekistan to begin working in the Netherlands, she was forced to leave her daughter behind. Ten-year-old Muhabbat lived with her grandparents while her mother strived to better their future. For three long years, mother and daughter communicated via phone, email and webcam. On August 12, Muhabbat, now almost 14 years old, arrived to join her mother. She has begun school at the Stedelijk Lyceum in Enschede. When Malohat was separated from her family, she describes feeling like a leaf floating away from an immense tree, which stood firmly rooted in Uzbekistan. Today, with Muhabbat by her side, she feels grounded again: `My two worlds have merged - it's a really good feeling.'
Malohat is delighted to bring her daughter to the Netherlands in part because of the Dutch people. She finds them to be `sincere, open, friendly - in fact, quite like Uzbeks!' She likes the tranquility of Enschede, calling it a place where `you can find peace in your soul' unlike busy, noisy Tashkent. But is this enough to lure Malohat to stay in the Netherlands? Possibly. Until the telecommunications industry in Uzbekistan develops further, her job prospects are far better in Europe. `If only I could commute from Uzbekistan,'muses Malohat.
For now, Malohat contributes to Uzbekistan by bettering herself professionally. Surely this spunky `senior' PhD candidate and brave single mother is an asset to her homeland, wherever she may be.
Favorites:
Hometown: Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Languages: Uzbek, Russian, English, German, Dutch
Favorite food: Uzbek palov (rice pilaf with carrots); Tandir somsa (minced meat, onions, potatoes wrapped in dough)
Favorite author: Jules Verne
Favorite TV program: Desperate Housewives
Favorite film: Mahallada duv-duv gap (1960) (`Neighborhood chitchat')
Favorite moment: `When I learned I was pregnant'
Favorite place in the NL: UT campus
Best part of the NL: Openness of society
Worst part of the NL: Being so far away from home
