The females belonging to the Beluji (Baloch) tribe go from door to door of multi-storey apartment blocks in Ashgabat with a request to buy old things and second-hand clothes from the inhabitants. Correspondents of “Chronicle of Turkmenistan” report that they are hoping to resell them to be able to earn money to buy food.
The apartment owners sometimes give us several items of used clothes.We say that we can pay a maximum of 10 to 20 manats per each item.
Some agree with this price and some do not.It happens that the inhabitants give away clothes out of compassion.We take the clothes we buy to the rural areas and resell with a small mark-up.
This is the way we make a living, one of the females said.
Practically no one in our village has a regular job. My husband is also unemployed. Each of us has at least 6 to 7 children. We are trying to survive, the other woman added.
The females used to buy second-hand items from local residents at the flea markets, for example, in the residential district 11. However, the police started dispersing the vendors and now women go door to door to buy second-hand clothes.
The compact settlements of Beluji are primarily located in Bairamali, Yoleten, Tagtabazar and Karakum etraps of Mary velayat.