IMC business training project helps Alikhan realize his dream

Alikhan Demelkhanov spent years nurturing a modest dream: to own his own business and earn enough money to support his family.

Then last spring an International Medical Corps team came to his village of Hambi-Irze in Achkoy-Martanovsky district looking for open-minded, hard-working candidates to start a small business.

Alikhan jumped at the chance.

When those running the program asked candidates to design and write their own business plans for consideration, Alikhan, with the help of his neighbors, sketched out his dream of opening a small factory to make and sell bricks. When four other participants in neighboring villages also offered plans for brick production, IMC decided that one of IMC’s five training sessions should be devoted to the craft.

PHOTO: IMC People participate in one of IMC's business training sessions.

The financial support was provided by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO). ECHO funds relief operations for victims of natural disasters and conflicts outside the European Union. In the Northern Caucasus the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department provides humanitarian assistance since autumn 1999 to the population affected by the conflict in Chechnya. The partnership between ECHO and IMC started in April 2006 with 14 income-generating projects in Chechnya's Achkhoy-Martanvosky district.

Over the course of a one-month period, International Medical Corps conducted five trainings in the essentials of business management, brick/block production, livestock husbandry, green-house operation and carpentry/furniture production, each for specific groups of micro-project participants covering all 14 proposed business projects. Training participants received business-specific and general knowledge needed for successful and sustainable implementation of their projects.

“In the very beginning I could not believe that this program existed even though International Medical Corps had already implemented several projects in our village such as a children’s sports club and a communal bakery,” Alikhan said. “We were invited to participate in a training course specifically designed for participants wanting to start mini-brick factory projects.”

PHOTO: IMC The graduates of one of IMC's business management classes.

He once worked in a large brick factory, but that plant closed in the mid-1990s when the war between Russian forces and Chechen rebel separatists overtook the region. Ever since, he wanted to start his own business.

Even before the training, Alikhan had begun to make preparations. He had assembled a staff and even chosen a building yard for equipment. Now IMC has given him the training he needs to succeed.

“Listening to experts in the lecture room I got a lot of new information about managing small businesses, taxes and business registration,” he said. “I had an opportunity to establish a business network with fellow students and share my experience with them.”

Today, as he waits for the necessary equipment to arrive to begin production, Alikhan still finds it hard to grasp that it’s all actually happening.

“Two months ago I would hardly believe that I would be doing this,” he said. “IMC’s training course gave me self-confidence and an opportunity to distract me from difficulties of everyday life. My children will now be able to work in this business when they grow up”.