OREANDA-NEWS. August 18, 2008. Nurzhan Sunaiyldaeva is 27 years old. She is married, raising three school-age children and has never worked before. Her husband does maintenance work at a school, earning hardly enough to meet the family’s basic needs, reported the press-centre of Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia.

Nurzhan began attending sewing classes at the recently opened Entrepreneurship Training Center in Chaek village of Narin oblast. The center not only teaches low-income families to sew, but also how to sell their products and run successful businesses.

The center was established as part of the Creating Conditions for Improving Economic Livelihood of Low-Income Families project, implemented by the Daanyshman Zhumgal kabary foundation and funded by Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) and the Embassy of The Netherlands in Kazakhstan.

“During trainings, I learned how to take credit, where and how to buy fabric and furniture, how to sell products, how to get government licenses and how to pay taxes,” says Nurzhan. Since Nurzhan began taking sewing classes, the household income has increased noticeably and she now makes approximately US83 per month.

“The sewing center has become popular beyond our village borders. Local government officials were among the first to appreciate our work,” says Project Manager Zhaparbek Dopoev. The Daanyshman Zhumgal kabary foundation received an Exemplary NGO award in a local Pride of Village contest for contributing to village socio-economic improvement. Muratbek Muktarbekov, head of the District Education Department, noted at the award ceremony: “This center is the first business incubator in the district since the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the first to provide professional trainings. It’s a big achievement for our country.”

The center is currently training fifteen people in Chaek village who are planning to open private enterprises to earn money doing enjoyable work. Just like Nurzhan.