ZARINA SHOFAIZOVA

SHOIDONA VILLAGE, TAJIKISTAN

Zarina is 34 years old. She is a very handy, skillful woman. She was born in a large family and has two daughters and a son. When she finished school she applied to enter a pedagogical institute. She passed all the exams but when she returned home they decided to marry her. She could not do anything to stop it because that would have meant a serious conflict with her parents, so she got married. Her husband works in the field. He comes home once or twice a week and the rest of time does agricultural work. He works from dawn to dusk to support the family and does not complain. This is their main source of income. Zarina lives with her husband's mother who is 81. Although she is an elderly woman she helps her grandchildren with homework. Zarina prays that her mother-in-law will have a long life and remain healthy. She can go to spin at the workshop without worries knowing that grandmother is at home looking after her children. Her father died but taught her a lot. She can fix and tune up the spinning machines and other electric appliances, which gives her a great satisfaction. When she first saw the spinning machine she decided to make a similar one and she made her own machine that works “from scratch”. If something breaks at the workshop she is happy to fix it. She has done many other jobs before – tending to their relatives’ apricot trees, raising sheep; she likes to help everyone as much as she can. She has one wish – to climb to the top of the highest mountain in their area, together with her husband.