Well, instead of going to the bakery, we have found ourselves on the premises of a small sewing cooperative. They have four different sewing machines, and 4 happy ladies working here. Most of their products are school uniforms and frilly, fancy dresses. They say they also make curtains, and even some shyrdaks!
Brian regaled them with a story about how he bought a shyrdak from them last year, but it was held at the very strict border going into New Zealand. “If you want to sell to foreigners,” he told them, “your product must be very, very clean!”
“But we can’t clean the wool,” they said, “we don’t have the machines.”
At that point, Brian leaned over to Tony and said, “perhaps we can get some machines out to these ladies.”
Now, everyone is talking about the future. Is the cooperative growing, they want to know. Are they increasing membership. What kind of goals are they setting for the future?
There is also the question of the curious Savings and Credit fund. As part of the program, before any resources are doled out, each newly formed group is required to start a Credit and Savings fund. Each member pays into this fund every month. Initial contribution is usually around $5 (200 som), and monthly contributions range from under one dollar (20 som), to $3 (100 som). Then, at a self-identified interest rate (usually %5 or %10), the women can loan this money out to members. One goat group we visited yesterday had built a war-chest of 20,000 som! At this point, there is high discussion on how to advise these women on what to do with their funds.
Now, as our meeting is concluding, the conversation has turned to competition. There are many women around with these sewing skills, and more cooperatives nearby. We are trying to convince the women that working together, and growing the cooperatives is a better idea than competing with each other for the limited local market.
“Work together!” Brian has been saying, “with more output, you can market your product outside of just your village, even in Bishkek! But if you don’t make those connections, you’ll run yourselves, and each other out of business.”
