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EFCA helped girls to
become popular designers
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Eurasia Foundation of
Central Asia is supporting a Youth center run by NGO New Generation in
Bobojon-Gafurov district, Sogd region - northern part of Tajikistan.
This center provides different kind of courses for young girls from vulnerable
families. Girls have an opportunity to attend courses on computers skills,
culinary, sewing, basics of business and leadership.
Two girls of seventeen
Shahlo Valizoda and Sevara Karimova took courses on sewing and computer skills
in this center. Thanks to the coordinator of the Center, Gulnora Azizova, these
girls received funding from a local businessmen to organize a fashion show in
the Cultural center of Gafurov, the administrative Center of Bobojon-Gafurov
disctrict.
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This show was
attendend by more the 250 peole, which is a big success for this area. Most of
the audience was youth because this kind of shows is rare in this town. Shahlo
and Sevara recruited several other young girls to show more than 20 models of
clothing designed and sewed by them. The quality of clothes and their design is
high enough to compete with clothes which brought to local markets from abroad.
“There are six
children in my family and I’m the eldest, I was in vital need of doing
something to help my parents feed the big family” – said Shahlo Valizoda.
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The fashion show made
popular the two of girls in there town and they decided to open their own
workshop, where they can sew and sell clothes for the local people. They rented
a space in one of the new buildings, where they set the equipment, which was
also rented. Now they have a lot of clients, which brings them a good income.
“We have a small town
where we have no jobs with good salaries. The courses that I took at the center
helped me to design clothes and get to know kind people who helped me and my
friend to open our own business” – said Sevara Karimova.
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Due to constant
problems with electricity supply in this area, Sevara and Shahlo decided to
rent space for their workshop in a new building. It is one of the few buildings
which have a permanent electricity supply in this town. Because they have a
permanent supply of electricity they need to pay 200 somoni (about 60 USD) for
the rent, which is a big amount for the local people. However this doesn’t stop
them. They have plans expand their business because there is a big demand on
their products. They already train two new girls in their workshop in order to
employ them once they have skills in designing and sewing.
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