From 'Village Girls' to Entrepreneurs

As a member of a thriving women-owned sewing business, Muazzam earns three times more in a single day than she did working in the fields. Photo: Alissa Zwanger/Mercy Corps

In Uzbekistan, a woman’s career options are limited. Many work hard labor – if they work at all. The unemployment rate of young people in the Ferghana Valley is thought to exceed 60 percent.

At age 20, Muazzam’s job was to pick cotton alongside her parents. She thought it was her only chance to earn a living.

When she was one of five local women invited by Mercy Corps to take sewing classes from a professional seamstress for three months, her parents were concerned. They would have to work longer hours to compensate for her absence, and weren’t sure her sewing career would pan out.

A year later, all five women are participating in a thriving business. Muazzam earns three times more in a single day than she did in the fields. Her parents are relieved and proud.

The participants are not only gaining monetarily, they’re also gaining confidence. As part of the program, funded by USAID, the women learned not only how to sew but also how to start and register a business, how to market their product and other key business skills.

With this help, they soon won contracts to make clothing for neighboring communities and are negotiating a deal to sew school-issued bedsheets for kindergarteners.

Odina, the group’s 20-year-old business manager, says, “We have changed 100 percent. Before, it was unfathomable that I would be negotiating business deals or know about taxes or marketing tactics. Before, we couldn’t even talk openly with our parents, much less clearly communicate with professionals in the nearby town. We thought we were just village girls.”

When asked what she found most exciting about the business, Muazzam responds, “Competition. This is a new concept for us here, and it is thrilling. After gaining real skills, I now have the confidence and experience to make this business sustainable.”

Armed with this confidence and newly acquired business acumen, the partners decided to pursue further learning opportunities.

Muazzam researched the possibility of attending a technical institution located about an hour away from the village. Four of the partners approached Mercy Corps and said they would pay for transportation to and from the school if the agency covered enrollment costs. “We need to learn new fashion designs to remain competitive and bring in orders,” explains Muazzam. “Also, we need the credibility that attending an institution can provide.”

Mercy Corps agreed, and the partners continue to increase their revenue and build a sustainable business model. They hope to have apprentices of their own someday, to share all they’ve learned.

Until then, it is back to the sewing pedal, as these young women make a better future for themselves and their community.