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Georgia - Trade in women's clothing

Svetlana (42), an accountant by profession, began trading in clothes in Zugdidi back in 1998. A divorcee raising a son on her own, she always found it difficult to live on a low salary. 


Svetlana (42), an accountant by profession, began trading in clothes in Zugdidi back in 1998. A divorcee raising a son on her own, she always found it difficult to live on a low salary. Eventually, encouraged by “success stories” of her acquaintances living abroad, Svetlana made up her mind to go to Germany. Having left her child to her relatives, she hoped to come back as soon as she had earned some money.

 

Reaching Germany proved more challenging than Svetlana had ever imagined. Moreover, once there, she was forced to accept that, without language skills, her chances of finding a steady job were next to none. Svetlana thus opted for casual low paying jobs until she finally found herself in Lithuania, where she immediately contacted IOM Vilnius. All that Svetlana wanted after her failed migration attempt was to return home, yet she had no means to do so.     

 

With IOM’s assistance, Svetlana voluntarily returned to Georgia at the end of November 2010. In view of the returnee’s financial and family circumstances as well as the viability of the business plan that she had presented, Svetlana was deemed eligible for a reintegration grant. Upon return, she rented some space for the sale and stocking of goods in her former workplace, one of Zugdidi’s department stores, and she used the assistance received from IOM to purchase seasonal items of women’s clothing for the start of her business.  

 

With over 10 years of experience in retail, today Svetlana is successfully developing her business: not only has she already repaid the debts which had accumulated prior to her departure from Georgia but she also receives sufficient income to support herself and her son and even manages to save up a little every month. Svetlana invests part of her savings into further expansion of her business in terms of both selling space and the assortment of goods. During her reintegration monitoring, Svetlana assured IOM representatives that even though making a living is still not easy, she feels extremely grateful for the reintegration assistance which has enabled her to start life anew in Georgia.