Kumri Orifova used to work as an accountant for a sewing factory before Tajikistan gained independence.   But she lost that job after the Tajik government took over the factory.  With the economy in the tanker, her husband left to find work in Russia, leaving her to take care of their three children and an aunt.

But rather than despair over her situation – no job, no husband, a family to take care of – Orifova decided to dig in and start her own sewing business.  She formed a partnership with her 2 sisters, borrowed money from friends and family, and started work with just a few sewing machines.  Slowly but surely, she and her sisters built up their profits and reinvested them, buying more machines, hiring more workers, until 4 years ago, their company was successful enough that they decided to branch out.

So Orifova teamed up with a few other investors and purchased a weaving factory so that she could cut out the middleman and get fabric at a cheaper price.  What is more remarkable is that Orifova and her sisters employed blind weavers who had lost their jobs when the economy turned sour. 

Are you keeping track so far?  Sewing factory…check.  Weaving factory…check.  Employing 40 blind weavers…check.

But Orifova wasn’t about to stop there.  Using 2 microloans of $600 each from Kiva, Orifova and her partners bought 3 new sewing machines, after which production increased dramatically.  More productivity meant more profits, which meant more hires, which meant more contracts, which meant more productivity,…and the cycle continued.

Today, Orifova and her sisters eagerly talk about their future business plans, hoping to eventually expand to other towns in the area.  Although their “factories” aren’t the huge, expansive structures we normally think of, that still doesn’t take away from how much they have achieved under bleak circumstances.  In just 5 years, Orifova and her sisters have gone from unemployed to employing others.  And although they initially started working with the blind to get a tax break from the government, Orifova and hers sisters are now excited about continuing their work with disabled communities.  They want to create more jobs for Tajikis, in their own homeland, so that their fellow citizens don’t have to go to other countries to look for jobs.  They judge the success of their business not so much by how much profit they generate, but by how many jobs they create, and how much they contribute to reestablishing a sense of community.

(This post was adapted from an article written by Carrie Ferrence, a Kiva Fellow from Seattle, Washington.  I wanted to include a link to the full article, but I couldn’t find one.  The full article was in Kiva’s January 2009 newsletter, which I received via email.  Ferrence did maintain a blog though while she was in Tajikistan from October through December 2008.  I read the most recent entries, and they give you a very interesting peek into what life is like in Tajikistan.  Give them a read when you have a chance.)