“I never thought I would sew clothes,” Otabek says, threading a needle. – But in a short time, I became a professional tailor. Now I even teach others.
Otabek is one of 100 prisoners employed in the sewing workshop. In the workshop, they don’t just pass the time, they produce quality uniforms for military and medical personnel, schools and industry.
The work is not limited to sewing. In another wing of the prison they make mattresses and furniture.
Otabek’s friend Latif Jononov, 43, works in a carpentry workshop.
“I was offered a choice – sewing or making furniture. I chose the latter and Otabek chose the former,” Latif recalls. – Now I am a certified furniture maker.
Thanks to a project by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, tailoring and furniture-making workshops have been set up not only in the Dushanbe prison, but also in another correctional facility in the city of Vahdat.