Tatiana Bezerdik, Craftswoman, Chisinau

Tatiana has been engaged in handcrafting for over 20 years. Due to a rare disease – lymphedema (elephantiasis) – her leg was amputated. Followingly, she was urged to stop her work as a primary school teacher. Tatiana reported that needlework helped her to forget her troubles and aided her to obtain a certain peaceful state of mind and harmony with herself. Back in school, she liked to spend her time doing such creative things, recollects Tatiana. In Moldovan villages, they used to have gatherings, where it was common to do needlework during a conversation.

Tatiana says that her daughter was the one convincing her to turn her hobby of handcrafting into a business. Tatiana’s family plays an important role, supporting her all the time. Tatiana’s work spreads kindness and love to people, she reports. Tatiana uses recycled materials to make knitted items and objects for interior decoration. Crochet shawls are also very popular among her customers. Tatiana is proud to be able to make her contribution to the preservation of Moldovan traditions.

In 2017, she made a record number of Mărțișors – more than 3.000, which she sent to customers abroad to remind them of home and cultural heritage. Mărțișors are a decoration and a traditional symbol of the celebration of the coming spring in Moldova and Romania, which takes place on 1 March. For her achievement, the local press acknowledged her as the “Mărțișor Ambassador of Moldova”. Tatiana is also active in training young handcrafters and thereby preserving national cultural heritage. Among her students are many people with disabilities, who aim to develop their handcrafting skills. She sees the main obstacle for people with disabilities to start their own businesses as the lack of support from the Moldovan state. The procedures are effortful and complicated. The environment is hardly suitable for people with special needs. These are the main issues that need to be solved, emphasizes Tatiana.