Afghan fashion and Afghan women’s lives

Afghan Action helped sponsor an event organised by the Islamic Help on 10 December 2011.

The event started at 4.30 pm and continued until 10.30 pm. It was an event about Afghan women, and displayed fashion from Asia and as well as discussing different issues in Afghan society. The money Afghan Action donated was used by Islamic Help to raise money for Cleft Lips and Acid Burn Victims.

The main idea behind the event was to hold an annual gathering that offered the general public the chance to find out about the lives of Afghan women, highlighting both education and fashion. It also helped four of our Afghan Advocates (Siddiqa, Zannat, Maryam and Jamila) to display their work and to introduce the audience to Afghan craftsmanship and clothes. The event was attended by 280 women and children. Feedback showed that the audience responded well to our Advocate’s work.

Afghan Action’s Project Manager Rahnuma Noor ran a presentation session to introduce the audience to Afghan Action and our work. She also discussed women’s life in Afghanistan and issues related to this subject like education and maternal health.

One of our Advocates. Zainab Homam. ran an Afghan Fashion show session which attracted a large group of people and was hugely appreciated. Responses show that it helped the audience look beyond the stereotypical image of Afghan women in “blue veils”. The audience enjoyed the intricate and colourful pieces in the fashion show, and they were hugely appreciative of Zainab.

Positive aspects of the event :

* It attracted a varied demographic. Women and children joined us from all walks of life.

* It gave our Advocates the opportunity to display their skills and talk about Afghan culture and styles.

* The audience responded very well to the display on Afghan clothes.

* It helped our audience appreciate an aspect of Afghan culture that they previously knew very little about. It also allowed them to look beyond their preconceptions of Afghanistan as primarily a “war-torn” country, but as a place with proud traditions also.

* Discussions were conducted both individually and in groups about different development issues affecting Afghan women lives. We received a very positive response from our audiences.

* The event was publicised in local media and also via websites and Youtube.

* The refreshments provided were of very high quality and we have received very positive feedback from our audience.

Negative aspects of the event:

* As it was organised by another organisation we didn’t have much freedom to utilise resources independently which made it difficult for our programme to run smoothly.

* Our stall required better illumination.

* Our models were reluctant at first. They were not entirely enthusiastic about wearing Afghan clothes but they soon warmed to the idea of participating and once they did they thoroughly enjoyed the event.