Anarkul Esenbayeva is a participant in the Sanarip Insan project, aimed at developing digital skills and improving the economic well–being of women and youth living in the regions of Kyrgyzstan.
The village of Tasma, where the Bugu Ene collective began its activities, is located in the Tyup district of the Issyk-Kul region. The team creates eco-friendly handmade soap from herbs and flowers in the village. According to Anarkul, one of the founders of the team, the demand for eco-products is growing every year.
"Our Bugu Ene team was established in 2010. Many villagers came to us, asked what we were doing and then started working. There were many difficulties in the beginning. And it turned out that it is difficult to convey to people that our products have medicinal properties that benefit people. Now people have started to understand, but 14-15 years ago it was hard," she says.
The Sanarip Insan helped them start earning with the help of new digital opportunities.
"It turns out that before the project, we used to just work – we made soap and thought that this was all that needed to be done. The current digital age offers many possibilities. If we used to sell soap manually, from house to house, now we do it without spending a lot of time. This is exactly what they taught us at Sanarip - how to shoot, how to make content, how to sell through social networks. It was very useful for us. We have hired a SMM specialist. After publishing and advertising on Instagram, Tiktok, we have more requests on our social networks, calls, orders have increased," Anarkul shares her successes.
The team now produces 10 types of soap. After the project, they had more time to work on product quality without spending time on sales. In Bugu Ene, foreign tourists often come to visit to see for themselves the production of soap, from collecting herbs to getting the soap itself.
"I would like to tell our women not to be afraid to start a new business. Join communities, look for projects, gain new knowledge, study and become economically independent," she concludes.
500 people have been trained as part of the Sanarip Insan project. Through trainings on digital tourism, participants learned how to work on platforms such as Booking, Google Maps, and Airbnb. As part of the e-commerce trainings, participants learned how to use social networks and messengers to promote goods and services. Today they are successfully developing their business.
The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union and is implemented by the European Neighborhood Council and ISOC Kyrgyz Chapter.
Comments
Post Comment