In the words of Savrinisso Ochildieva: “My story will help other women find their way, improve their lives, and contribute to the development of the country”
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Savrinisso Ochildieva was born and raised in Shaartuz, a remote district in Khatlon region, Tajikistan. The 29-year-old, a mother raising two children alone, has been making natural fabrics such as silk, adras and atlas by hand for almost four years. Savrinisso came to the Atlas and Adras festival organized by the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies to present the natural silk fabric manufacturing company DUK in Shaartuz district. In cooperation with the Government of Tajikistan, UN Women supports initiatives aimed at women's economic empowerment, including measures to increase women's income, rights, and access to decent jobs, especially for those from vulnerable groups.
"It so happened that four years ago my husband divorced me and left me alone with two small children. I urgently needed to find a job to feed my family. It was then that I found out that there was an enterprise in our district that made our national fabrics – silk, adras and atlas by hand. I had been interested in sewing since childhood, so I decided to apply there. To my great joy I succeeded!
I realized that this was my job. It only took me three days to master the technique and learn how to weave by hand and by myself. Today I am considered the best weaver in our enterprise, and I think that is why I was chosen to represent our products at the national Atlas and Adras festival in Dushanbe.
We employ 10 women from low-income families. Every day when we come to work, we forget about our problems and immerse ourselves in the process. This helps us to feel important and become more self-confident. The challenge of the job is that we sit for several hours a day and work hard, but I am used to it now. After all, I love what I do. For instance, I can manually produce 20 meters of fabric a day. The most important thing for me is that my children are fed, healthy and clothed, because that is what I work for. I am very happy that UN Women in Tajikistan supported our enterprise; it is thanks to this that I had the opportunity to present our products at the festival.
I plan to further develop my skills, expand my knowledge, and become a professional in my business, as I am very good at it. Currently I earn about 800 somoni (US$70) per month, which is not much. And sometimes I have difficulties, of course, as I am raising children alone, but I am still grateful for everything. Unfortunately, our people do not understand the value of our products and prefer to buy imported synthetic fabric instead of our natural ones. So far there is not much profit, but we hope that gradually our products will become more in demand.
I do not have a higher education, but I have loved and been able to sew practically since I was a child. And now I am also weaving, choosing the patterns and colour of the patterns myself, I want to make sure the customers like the fabrics. I am very excited and hope to interest exhibitors to promote our products on the market. I have an important task in front of me – to present our products and our Shaartuz district at the highest level.
This is essential for the future, mine, and my children's. And the future of our women and our country. I think my story will help other women find their way, improve their lives, and contribute to the development of the country.”