Mae Fah Luang Foundation Report

April 01, 2007

Afghan Action, Kabul: visit of Nucha Sibunruang, Personal Assistant to M.R. Disnadda Diskul, Secretary General, Mae Fah Luang Foundation

It was already afternoon and we had little time left before we had to start travelling through the Salang Pass back to Mazar-e-Sharif. Mr. Yama Salehi, the Office Manager of Afghan Action in Karte se was extremely helpful in helping us locate the Project facility and came to greet us at the main gate. On the outside the facility looks like any typical house in Kabul, but once inside it opens up into a good size courtyard, complete with its own well, where vegetables are grown for the trainee lunch program. Mr. Salehi guided us through the four buildings surrounding the centre courtyard. The front building holds a class room for the children who receive at least two hours of lessons daily from the nurse, a small clinic, a showroom for Afghan Action carpets and the office. Mr. Salehi’s knowledge of the Afghan carpet industry is formidable. We learned much from him and the master trainers during our visit.

To ensure that Afghans are the primary beneficiaries, all raw materials used in their operation (which is rather comprehensive, considering the only step that is not done here is the yarn spinning) is strictly produced in Afghanistan. They use only Ghazni woollen yarn, which is dyed using their own boiler in the courtyard. The 12 trainers and staff seem very professional with decades of experience in carpet production.

There are two large rooms filled with upright looms dedicated to training the youngsters. Nearly all are 14 or older, although there are a few who are a little younger. However, these younger trainees receive twice as much formal education than their older counterparts. The first training room on the right of the courtyard can house about 50 boys and is supervised by a master trainer who creates unique designs for their carpets. The second across from the main office building houses about the same number of girls and another master trainer who oversees their work. Both rooms buzzed with energy as the trainees knotted their way through the carpets.

Trainees are paid $25 per month for the first 4 months, then $30 for the last 2 months of their training course as an incentive and to put cash in their pockets to feed their families. Once they complete their training, they can continue to work for Afghan Action for $20 per month base salary and $25 for the first square meter of carpet they weave, $35 for the second, and $45 for the third.

This facility can produce about 50 square meters of carpets per month, most of which is flown directly to the UK for sales in their show room there or through their internet website. Prices range from $300 to $1,000. Because of the integrated and comprehensive nature of the project, encompassing education, healthcare, nutrition, and employment generation, the carpet prices must be inflated to accommodate these costs.

Afghan Action and Mae Fah Luang both share the same goal: to help people so that they can help themselves. Our upcoming carpet project in Balkh envisions something very similar to the Afghan Action project in Karte se. Because we were in a rush to get back to Mazar-e-Sharif, we did not spend as much time as we wanted to in Karte se. There is still much we can learn from the project and we hope to have the opportunity to visit them again.

Nucha Sibunruang,
Personal Assistant to
M.R. Disnadda Diskul, Secretary General,
Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage