Afghan Magic Carpets - November 2007

November 01, 2007

Afghan Action’s beautiful handmade carpets are now being stocked in two of the country’s leading retailers. GH Firth have the largest stock of oriental carpets in the UK - and Afghan Action’s carpets can be found in their Swindon showroom just off the M4 www.ghfirth.com. They are also available to purchase in Carleton Lord Carpets in Bridgewater, Somerset www.carletonlord.com. Customers can be assured of high quality carpets and also of the quality of employment and working conditions.

“Life is very tough in Kabul at the moment” says Chris Beales, Afghan Action’s founder and Chief Executive.

“We’re doing our best to provide secure employment, fair wages and good working conditions”. Afghan Action also provides its 80 staff and 30 trainees – some of whom were disabled during the war - with a nourishing midday meal, on-site healthcare and education. Customers can sponsor a trainee and get their own individual handmade carpet. They’re made using the wool of Ghazni sheep and mainly natural dyes. And one of Afghan Action’s quirkier ideas is to provide the opportunity for people to sponsor a Ghazni sheep – and help to provide the nomadic Kuchis with a flock of sheep. “We met the Kuchis a year ago” says Chris. “A group of 600 families are living on barren land in Wardek, just south of Kabul. They lost their animals during the wars but their wool could supply our factory and make our carpets”.

WANT TO BUY A CARPET FOR CHRISTMAS?

YUSOF MIRZAZADA,
PROMOTION AND OUTREACH OFFICER, AFGHAN ACTION, LONDON
I am Afghan Action’s Promotion and Outreach Officer. I work with Afghan communities in London to involve them in our work and provide support for theirs. I will be working with refugees and asylum seekers – there are still many needy people living here who suffered during the years of war and conflict in Afghanistan. I worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the northern regions of Afghanistan during the Taliban war.
Contact Yusof on 07882 858 861
Or by email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

THE TEAM IN KABUL
Yama Salehi is Afghan Action’s General Manager in Kabul. He has extensive management experience and has been with Afghan Action since August 2006. His senior management colleagues are the two master trainers, Habibullah and Hadi, who design the carpets, manage the team of 12 trainers and supervise them.

The trainees are a mixed group of men and women from different tribes and areas, aged mainly between 14 and 20. There are currently 75 people employed by Afghan Action and 30 trainees. So far, over 150 young people have participated in Afghan Action’s training programme since September 2005.
To contact Yama in Kabul, please phone 0093 (0) 700 291 684 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

SPONSOR A TRAINEE
Purr-fect! Another satisfied customer! James McLeod-Hatch sponsored a trainee while working in Kabul. He writes: “Here’s my lovely carpet in its new location, my bedroom. As you can see it is popular amongst all members of the family..”. To find out more about sponsoring a trainee, please click on
http://www.afghanaction.com/pages/sponsor.html

Afghan Action is also getting into IT training in Afghanistan – for more information,
see: http://www.afghanaction.com/pages/SOFT_LAUNCH.html

MEET WAID AND RAHILA
Waid, 15, works at Afghan Action’s unique Kabul factory, handweaving traditional Afghan carpets. Hardworking Waid has been his family of five’s main breadwinner since the age of ten. Both he and his colleague Rahila, 18, missed out on school during the years of conflict – Afghan Action’s literacy and numeracy classes mean they can now read and write properly. Karen Triggs, DFID’s Media Officer in Kabul, reports.

Waid: One really good thing about working here is that we do school classes in the afternoon. I’m learning to read and write one of Afghanistan’s two main languages, Dari, and also doing maths and religious studies.

Rahila: We make some great carpets here. I’m sure people in Britain would like the one I’m making at the moment, which is in the Kazakh style. It’s easier to weave than some of the other styles, actually, particularly the ones with flowers on which are quite fiddly. You can tell it’s Kazakh because of the colours – a sort of dusky blue - and the pattern is quite geometric and symmetrical.

My favourite colour wool is this dark navy blue. We dye the wool ourselves here at the workshop using organic dyes. Outside you can see the skeins hanging on the roof, drying in the sun.

Waid: I’ve been working here for about a year-and-a-half now. I spent about nine months as a trainee, learning from our master carpet maker. Then the workshop offered me a proper job. I’m the only person in my house with a proper job – there are five of us: mother, brother and two sisters. I get paid about 2500 afghanis a month (about £25). I give all the money to my mother and she gives me a bit back for bus fares.

Rahila: We’ve got nine in my family – my mum and dad, four brothers and my two sisters. My dad has a job as a carpenter. My two sisters work here at the rug workshop as well. All our wages go into the family’s money pot. I’m training at the moment but I’d like a steady job here once I graduate.

Waid: Before I worked here I was hailing taxis on the street. I had to stand outside in the baking heat or snow. In a good month I would earn no more than 1000 afghanis (about £10) and sometimes quite a bit less. I did actually attend school for a little while – maybe two years. But I had to leave to start working when I was about 10.

Rahila: I was sitting at home doing nothing before I started here because it’s very hard at the moment for girls to find suitable jobs. I was really bored – I’m so happy that I’m doing something productive now and that there’s more money coming in because it means that we can live a bit better. We’ve recently bought a tape player for the first time – we all saved to get this. We can also afford to buy meat a bit more often. We hardly had it before. My favourite meal is sherwa – it’s an Afghan soup you make with meat, potatoes and carrots and eat with flat bread. My mother prepares it, mind you – I’m terrible at cooking!

Waid: Now I can read and write a bit I might be able to go and study at college later. I’d quite like to be a doctor. In the meantime I hope I’ll work here. I also hope people in the UK will keep buying our carpets – they’re lovely and the money we earn helps our families stay off the breadline

CHRISTMAS IS COMING… SO DON’T MISS THESE SPECIAL EVENTS
If you’re looking for a gift with a difference this Christmas, come and join us at one of our special events. We have a wide range of carpets for sale and sometimes we have delicious Afghan food to sample! Details of all our events are on the website. If you’re not sure how to get to the venue, give us a ring and we’ll provide directions.

EVENTS THIS AUTUMN AND WINTER
Tuesday 6 November, 2.15pm: Mothers’ Union, St Francis West Wickham, South London BR4 0PW
Thursday 8 November, 6pm - 9pm: The Parish Rooms (above La Buvette Restaurant), Church Walk, Richmond, South West London
Thursday 15 November, 6pm - 8pm: All Hallows, London Wall, City of London EC2Y8
Thursday 22 November, 6pm: St Michael’s College, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2YJ
Friday 23 November, 12 - 2pm: Parish Hall, Merthyr Mawr Road North, Bridgend CF31 3NH
Friday 7 December, 7 - 9pm: Parish Church Hall, Church Road, Leatherhead KT22 9AZ
Wednesday 16 January 2008, 6 - 8pm: Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB

HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE WORK OF AFGHAN ACTION?

• Buy a carpet – prices start at £200
  http://www.afghanaction.com/catalog/Carpets_by_Size-3-1.html
• Sponsor a trainee through the Afghan Training Foundation
  http://www.afghanaction.com/pages/sponsor.html
• Make a donation to the Afghan Training Foundation
  https://www.charitychoice.co.uk/donation.asp?ref=154254

THE AFGHAN TRAINING FOUNDATION AND AFGHAN ACTION
The Afghan Training Foundation is a UK registered charity, no 1111897. Its wholly owned trading company, Afghan Action Ltd, is a social enterprise registered in the UK and Afghanistan. Contact us on 020 3201 0049 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)