Esiye Hamderi Becomes a Brand with Hand Knitted Bags!

Esiye graduated from the Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching in 2010. For 14 years, she has been earning income as a paid teacher. However, after the February 6 earthquakes, she suffered great losses both financially and morally. For a long time, she was not motivated, she did not want to do anything. In time, she started to recover and thought that she had to produce something. She had two children and wanted to stand strong for them. She turned to hand knitting, a job she loved. Through knitting, she realized that it was good for her to produce and work again.

Esiye heard about the MaviKalem project through a friend. Initially, she had no hope that she would be accepted into the project and did not want to apply. However, when her friend insisted, she decided to try her luck. At the time, she was making hand-knitted bags, but she was having difficulty sustaining her business due to high costs. When she learned that her application was accepted, she was both surprised and happy. She was supported with all the materials she needed within the scope of the project. As soon as the materials arrived, she quickly started production and designed different models of knitted bags.

“I applied for the project but I had no hope. When you called me, I thought I should embrace my work more. I was very surprised when the materials arrived, I never expected this much. Thanks to MaviKalem, I recovered financially and spiritually, I felt good. The most important thing for me in this period was moral strength, thanks to you, I gained it.”

Esiye continues to work as a paid teacher, but her real passion is hand knitting! In the future, she wants to quit teaching and focus only on handicrafts. This way, she will be able to spend more time with her children and continue her work full-time. She says that knitting gives her peace, motivates her and makes her forget all her stress. She designs new models by knitting whenever she finds free time. Her goal is to reach a wider audience with the bags she produces and to provide employment by encouraging the women around her to do the same. She is currently saving her earnings and investing in her business and aims to grow her business. She shares her knitted bags on her Instagram account!

“I want to put a label or logo on the bags I knit, so I can announce my brand to a wider audience. I have hope, I believe it will happen over time and I think big. I am striving for this. I want to deliver my products not only in my neighborhood but also outside the city.”

Her biggest dream is to increase her sales by creating a special brand for her own products and to open a small workplace in time and sell her handicraft products there!