My name is Chinara Babayeva, I was born in the village of Seyidahmadli in the Fuzuli district. My family and me are currently living in the Zobujug 5 settlement which was built for internally displaced persons.

Since my daughters are studying, it is impossible for them to work, and my husband is a war veteran who was injured in 1993 and cannot work because of his disability, so it is crucial for me to work so that I can meet the basic needs of the family. That is why I had to work in different works available in the region, but I always wanted to do what I love and establish my own business in this area.

My acquaintance with the Women's Resource Center operating in the Fuzuli district was a very significant event in my life. The increase in my family problems and the undesirable situations that appeared from time to time in my husband's health caused a very serious psychological trauma. When I received free psychological sessions at the former Community Resource Center, I have been informed a new project is going to start aimed to support women in economic development and I decided to use this opportunity. Later I signed up for the "Women's Hairdresser" course and attended the first stage of the course run by trainer Ruhiya Hasanova in Zobujug 5 settlement. There were 6 women attending these courses in the same group. We have been taught all the needed hairdressing skills by the trainer. Some women learned make up, while others got familiar with other beauty techniques. So, we became a good team with needed set of skills to work together.

Ms. Ruhiyya is a business woman living in Baku, but she comes from a nearby region. Considering that there were no beauty salons for women in the village, she decided to open one. Now, on top of the physical premises, she has a skilled team of women working in her salon. As agreed with the project, all 6 women trained within this course will be employed by Ms. Ruhiyya.  A building for the salon located in a suitable place in the village needed some repair, so the renovation work started during classes.  In fact, we started our classes in a small room kindly provided by the local executive representative of the village. Once the renovations were finished we moved in nice building and started practicing our new skills.

Yes, we are still fresh in this field, and some of us have never handled a scissor or other hairdressing tools, and we know that there is still a lot to learn. However, we are equipped with the necessary knowledge to start earning money for our families. A salon still needs to be promoted, so we must advertise it and get ourselves known in surrounding villages. Gradually, the women passing by the salon started coming in and get familiar with our services. I can tell on behalf of all 6 women employed within the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in South Caucuses” Project, that this training brought a lot of changes in our lives. Now we have our own environment for learning and improvement, and we are confident that we are able to stand on our own legs, which is the most important for rural women, especially for those who suffered from conflict.