Three years ago, life was very different for Najiba and her family. She had few skills and no income. She relied on her husband and sons to ensure her family had enough food to eat and a roof over their heads. Now, with new skills, business knowledge and the right support, life has changed enormously for her and her family. Najiba’s life was transformed when she joined Zardozi – Markets for Afghan Artisans, which for 20 years has provided women with training to learn a craft, business skills to turn that craft into a livelihood and support to connect them with sustainable markets to sell their goods. Najiba sits in a house in Dashte Barchi, a majority Hazara neighborhood in the outer suburbs of Kabul. Here, women gather each day at the Zardozi regional office to refine their skills and take part in training that ranges from business management to literacy. Najiba embroids fine and brightly coloured thread into what will soon be a fabric order for a client and talks about how this has helped transform her life. “My sons and husband are working, but as day laborers. Some days they have work, some days they do not” she says. “Before, life was difficult and day to day. Rent was becoming higher and we had to work a lot’’. Now that her business is growing, life has changed. “If a person can work, their whole family can eat. The money I make is spent on rent and food for the family. I send my children to courses”. Being part of the Zardozi project has been more than a livelihood to Najiba, it has had a big impact on her character; she is not the same woman who arrived at Zardozi with few skills and no confidence. “At the beginning I was not able to find a market, I was not even brave enough to talk to shopkeepers. Now I can find new markets and new orders and talk with the shopkeepers”. Today, with support from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Zardozi helps more than 7,000 women across 4 provinces in Afghanistan.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 04:06:32 +0000
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