Help Matluba Bazarova to support female artisans

Hi, my name is Kate and I fundraise to help Matluba Bazarova to support female artisans in Uzbekistan.

All her life Matlyuba helped artisans in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Traditional handicrafts (fine cotton fabrics, embroidery, ceramics, etc.) are part of the culture of Uzbekistan, but they do not bring much income and are not known in developed countries. Matluba has promoted artisans and their arts, helped them to participate in international exhibitions, helped promote them online, and solicited help and support from the government. Bukhara has the largest number of women artisans in Uzbekistan, for whom traditional crafts are their main source of income. Matlyuba helped craftsmen and craftswomen from Bukhara to take part in the International Folk Art Market (IFAM) festival, organized in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, Matlyuba took out a bank loan to support the Bukhara Crafts Center and enable artisans to learn new skills. During COVID, tourism and handicraft sales completely stopped, the bank demanded the return of the loan, Matlyuba was seriously ill with COVID, was in the hospital, and never fully recovered (she still has difficulty breathing and suffocates when walking). She had to sell her house in Bukhara and some personal belongings to pay off the loan, as she was very ill. There are still very few tourists in the country. It is very difficult for artisans to live, since there is no one to buy their goods. Despite the fact that Matlyuba's health has not yet recovered, she continues to conduct training for women in different regions of Uzbekistan.

We want to raise money for Matlyuba and for the Crafts Development Center to support artisans, female artisans and Matlyuba during this difficult time so that they can continue to buy raw materials and learn to sell goods online, and Matlyuba can buy herself the personal items she had to sell.