Residents of Taygariyev community in Jalal-Abad city celebrated the beginning of spring with a colorful festival Women Bring Music. The celebration, which took place in the secondary school named after Koshmatov, was conducted within the framework of the project Women’s Peace Banks. The project is being implemented by the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Scheduled highlight of the festival was a fashion show of the national costumes. The costumes were created by the students of the Ethnographic Center at the Jalal-Abad College of Designers. The director of the Center Ms. Narkan Sharipova stated:  “These costumes are the result of hard work of girls and women working in our Center.”   

Ms. Gulmira Akim kyzy, one of the local residents, performed a national dance Kara Jorgo. Other women from the community sang songs and declaimed poems written by the famous Kyrgyz authors and by the performers themselves.

Talking about the Koshmatov school, attended by more than 900 students, the principal Ms. Seydeke Ergeshova emphasized the support of NGOs. “We have many problems: for example, lack of furniture and various renovation needs. However, one problem has been recently solved. The roof in our gym was leaking for a long time and children could not have sport classes there. Now the roof is repaired”, said Ergeshova. The repair was made possible with the support from the Women’s Peace Banks Project.  EFCA provided construction materials and covered the salary of the construction workers in the amount of 239,300 KGS. The administration of Jalal-Abad city also supported the school by providing additional construction materials.

According to Ms. Seydeke Ergeshova, the festival was dedicated to the International Women’s Day on March 8. The celebration was organized by women activists who are members of the Initiative Committee of Taygariyev community. This and many other community Committees were created during the Women’s Peace Banks project.

The manager of the project Ms. Gulsana Abytova said that 16 Initiative Committees were created in Osh and Jalal-Abad cities. “Each committee has 10 women who are working to increase the capacity of women in solving local problems and to strengthen their role in decision-making and peace-building processes,” said Abytova.

The project “Women’s Peace Banks” is being realized by the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) and is one of many projects made possible with the support from the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Additional information can be obtained from the project manager Ms. Gulsana Abytova at: (03222) 29681 or gulsana@ef-ca.org.