Nurmuhamad Turkbaev
“I would like to be remembered as a person who broke stereotypes, who made something impossible,” says Nurmuhamad Turkbaev, a 20-year-old junior student at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA).
Nurmuhamad is born and raised in Batken, a small place in southern Kyrgyzstan, situated right in the Kyrgyz-Tajik border areas. His birthplace has, in a way, influenced the type of person he has become. He explains that the region is not developed in terms of education. There were no English or Russian teachers in his high school, so Nurmuhamad spent some of his summer vacations in the capital city of Bishkek studying. In September, he would go back home to start the regular school year.
The young student acknowledges how much his goals and beliefs have changed recently. He quotes the statement: “Stop dreaming, start doing.” He explains that he started planning instead of dreaming, which has enabled him to achieve great things.
Nurmuhamad is currently participating in a business program called “Biznes Okul Ata” (Business Godfather). Out of 3500 applicants, 110 were called for an interview where they had to introduce themselves and present their business plan. “It was crazy; you have 45 seconds to sell yourself and your idea,” says the Kyrgyz student. Only 20 people were selected to participate, and now Nurmuhamad is one of the three finalists.
His business idea is to gather fruits from Kyrgyzstan’s southern regions, process them, and export them to other countries. This project has been stuck in his head for more than ten years now. Nurmuhamad says that he always knew that if he had a business, it would revolve around dry fruits. “I guess that’s my first and last love from when I was younger,” he says laughingly.
There are two problems that Nurmuhamad sees and tries to solve with this business. In the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan, people gather fruits and sell them directly to other countries. Processes like cleaning and packaging are not performed by the locals. The other huge problem that Nurmuhamad’s home country is facing is migration. He says that more than three million Kyrgyz people are currently working in Russia. He thinks of his business idea as a way to provide workplaces.
“I was born in this region; I saw these problems and went through this because my parents were also in Russia when I was in ninth grade. During that period when I needed parents’ support, unfortunately, they were in Russia, but thanks God it went well,” says Nurmuhamad with a calm smile on his face. He adds that his experiencing this problem has made him want to fix it for others.
He mentions that his parents’ absence actually motivated him. While they were away, he had to go through things by himself, and he dedicated this time to working on himself. He successfully graduated from school and got into AUCA.
Nurmuhamad mentions that he has a strategy this year. “We are living this life just once, and we should live it to the fullest. It should be worth it, right?” says Nurmuhamad with a big smile.
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Daria Naidenova is a sophomore student at AUBG majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and Business Administration. She finds Nurmuhamad’s approach to life very interesting and admires all young, ambitious people who work on their dreams.
