By Bernama,
New Delhi : Having transformed the lives of thousands of women artisans in the country, the self-help organisation Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is now helping war-affected women of Afghanistan to rebuild their lives, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Tuesday.
For the last one year, SEWA, with the support of the Government of India, is working with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Kabul, on setting up a vocational training centre for women at Bagh-e-Zanana in the Afghan capital.
SEWA identified a team of 33 women from Afghanistan and they are currently being trained by the association in the fields of textiles and garments, food processing and environment regeneration.
Shahnaz Nazar Mohammad, handicapped due to multiple fractures she suffered while reconstruction of their house that was destroyed during the Taliban war was on, is one of the beneficiaries of the project.
Unfit to do any hard laborious work, she is currently being trained in garment manufacture at the SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre.
“My goal is to support disabled women like me,” she said.
Aqela Mohammad Azim, 24 years old and a divorcee, was harassed by her in-laws and was traumatised.
With her elder brother’s death in the war and and an aged father, the responsibility of feeding a family of seven members fell on her shoulders.
She is currently being trained as a trainer at SEWA and her goal is to train hundreds of poor widows in Afghanistan who are struggling to sustain their families.
‘Hansiba’, SEWA’s brand of embroideries and garments, has meanwhile, joined hands with the Afghan women, to be launched in Afghanistan.
The traditional embroideries of Afghanistan like ‘Khamak’, ‘Zangirak Dozy’ and ‘Mora Dozy’ are very similar to the ‘Hansiba’ brand of embroideries of Kutch and Patan.
Market research has also revealed that Indian spices and pulses have a big market in Afghanistan and are currently being imported from here.
`RUDI’, SEWA’s agri business brand, therefore, has a natural market in Afghanistan.
In exchange, `RUDI’ procures dry fruits and nuts from small and marginal farmers in Afghanistan and markets them in India.