Recycling feels good. It seemingly gives us power to control our own habits for the benefit of our planet. With her story, Fidan Manafova proves it right.

Since her graduation, Fidan has led an active lifestyle. Working in the Azerbaijan Convention Bureau as a marketer in tourism, she was engaged in promoting business tourism participating and representing Azerbaijan at international platforms. Simultaneously, she also taught marketing at the Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University for students in the Azerbaijan-Austria Tourism Program.

But her life has drastically changed when she had her beautiful daughter Farah.

“My mentality has changed,” Fidan said. “After having a child, I grew mentally older and more responsible in everything. That’s how it all started.”

“I started being interested in recycling and try to promote this social responsibility on my Instagram blog DIY. Together with my baby, I began to share a video of the process of making interior decor from all sorts of waste,” she explained.

“Besides, it was necessary to take up my spare time after I went on maternity leave,” Fidan added.

Twenty-nine-year-old Fidan believes DIY to be an art. With her handiworks, she inspires her audience to follow her lead.

“DIY is emotions, a sea of ​​emotions that you get when you finally see the result of your efforts. People coming to your house admire your work and this is what motivates me, gives me an incredible incentive,” she shared her feelings with us.

“I often get feedback from my audience to my handiworks published on my blog. From their comments and messages, I can see how much they like it and how happy they are to share positive feedback. They are happy to repeat my DIY ideas and share the results with me. I am sure to share the work of my subscribers, trying to give a greater impetus to this trend and create a domino effect.”

An opportunity to demonstrate her handiworks came to her almost immediately after she turns hand to recycling. EU4Climate project funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the UNDP launched the Ozun Yarat (DIY) contest for those who are passionate about sharing creative ways of upcycling objects to reduce harmful waste and conserve the environment.

“I am grateful to my relatives who sent me a link to your contest, insisting that I should definitely take part,” Fidan said.

“By that time, only 2 days remained before the deadline. In a hurry, I completely forgot that I have ready-made works with detailed filmed content and thought that I would not have time to take part because I had to have time to prepare everything from scratch.”

At this year’s Ozun Yarat contest, Fidan Manafova put up for competition her handiworks made from wood. Her cone-shaped wooden lamp was selected among 250 other applications based on its originality, overall visual impression, quality and technical skill and received an award as the best handiwork in the Wood category.

“I took part in the OzunYarat contest to prove to myself that everything I do is something worth going further and not having doubts about. It has also increased my self-confidence, which I always lack so much ...”

Fidan was also directly involved in the Eurovillage 2022 event organized by the European Union Delegation to Azerbaijan. At the event, she gave a recycling master class, which turned into the favorite of the visitors in the EU4Climate stand.

“I was lucky enough to participate in the Eurovillage exhibition, where I was able to call people, not through the screen, but in life, to follow our initiative to be useful both for nature and ourselves, through creating beauty from commonly unused or discarded materials. Among the guests of our stand were not only adults but also children who were also interested in this whole topic with DIY, which makes me extremely happy,” Fidan said, recalling the event.

Currently, Fidan continues working as a professor at the Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University, teaching marketing to students. 

“It is not easy to combine both tasks since both require a lot of effort, patience and time, but I love both activities equally,” she said. “I’ve always dreamed of teaching, and I’ve always loved creating something beautiful from improvised materials, and when these two activities are boosted with emotions, support and love from people (students and followers), there is crazy energy that I get, which motivates me and stimulates me to work more and more. “

“At a time like this, you have no other choice but to move on,” Fidan concluded.