Contributor: Svetlana Shegai

Earlier this year, the sound of saws returned to an abandoned furniture-making plant in the centre of Kyzylkia, a once-prosperous industrial town located in the heart of Kyrgyzstan's Ferghana Valley.

This town was once one of the most ethnically diverse in Central Asia, with Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Russians, even Greeks and Turks working side by side. With the collapse of the Soviet Republic, Kyrgyzstan's economy slumped. Many factories like this one were shut down; widespread unemployment and emigration ensued.

But today there are signs of life and renewal coming from a brand new wood-processing machine - the first of its kind in southern Kyrgyzstan. The man working the machine is 38-year-old Amirakul Adinaev, who purchased it using a community fund created by Mercy Corps' Collaborative Development Initiative (CDI).

This father of three is taking advantage of the programme's support for new business ideas and economic networks among communities in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The Collaborative Development Initiative puts representatives of seven villages in the Ferghana Valley in charge of finding and funding projects in their communities. Adinaev's furniture making venture is one of over 500 businesses that have been created or expanded with the programme's help. The initiative not only helps increase individual incomes, but also encourages collaboration between the various ethnic groups within these villages.

The fund enabled Adinaev to purchase new woodworking equipment that he is using to build quality home and office furniture. Adinaev is connecting furniture makers in other villages as well, providing them with material for their designs.

Adinaev moved to Kyzylkia in 1993 from his native Tajikistan. His skills as a chemistry and biology teacher weren't useful here, so and was forced to look for a new vocation.

So, he turned to his skills in carpentry, hoping to start a small business building beds, wardrobes, tables and chairs. Adinaev's progress was slow. Quality wood was scarce, and the equipment needed to shape and cut it was hard to find, too. "We had to go to Bishkek" — a distance of 500 miles — "to get material cut," he says.

At first, Adinaev tried to buy his own equipment through a bank loan. But he couldn't find an institution willing to take a chance on him. His brother Rahmatulla — who'd participated in another Mercy Corps programme — told him about the humanitarian agency. Adinaev eventually purchased his £1,800 wood-processing machine with a loan from CDI's Cluster Endowment Fund.

It hasn't been difficult to make payments on his loan. Not only is Adinaev serving twice as many customers than when he started his business, but his income has doubled as well. The extra money is enough to help his family move into an apartment of their own after living with Adinaey's parents.

Adinaev is giving back to his community, too, bringing on seven apprentices to help learn the furniture-making trade. With their help, he's redeveloping the building that houses his business to smoothly handle all the steps of his business — from cutting wood to assembling to storing and selling finished pieces.

Kyzylkia may never fully return to its past industrial glory. But with hard workers like Adinaev and Mercy Corps leading the way, this city could once again become an example of multiethnic prosperity.

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