Baloch women make living by turning waste into handicrafts

QUETTA: Fascinated by her mother’s beadwork, Hareem decided to try her hand at handicrafts and within a short period managed to master the art.

Telling her story to this scribe she said, “By getting inspiration from my mother we started getting training in some of the environmentally friendly organisations which taught us how to utilize the newspapers and other wastes to make things like key chains, jewellery bags and many more by using beads and paper wastes.”

“Since it’s something new we have so far not been able to receive a favourable response from the market, but gradually we are making our presence felt in the market and hope to get much more appreciation locally and internationally,” she added.

“We have showcased our work in other cities of Pakistan; they showed immense love and support, so we are looking forward to getting the required support from the people of Balochistan also. The climate of Balochistan is also quite good for utilising waste to make such products. Hence we are improving the quality and quantity of our products.”

Azraa, who is running a skill centre named ‘Taraki Foundation’, is helping the Afghan refugees to put up their work. She said, “We are helping the Afghan refugees to stand firm on their feet without depending on others so that they can run their own home business. The training in the foundation lasts for 5 to 6 months and after the session, we give them certificates and required machines.”

She further said, “We train them for products like hand-woven carpets, cushions, embroidered frocks, and a lot more. We also do marketing for these products by displaying them in our shop named ‘Riwayat’ at Millennium Mall Quetta.”

Sahira Iqbal with the support of her family is also running her own home-based brand ‘Raniyas Collection’. Talking to Bol News she said, “My brothers are helping me by providing the raw material; they also help me in delivering the products to the customers. My sister who is disabled is running a small association at home for training our workers for hand-woven work. In short, the whole family is running their business.”

Talking about her home business and the products that they made, she said, “We are making handmade products which also include newborn sets, different home decor sets and the price ranges between Rs. 50 and Rs. 50,000. Our workers are also helping us in producing items for both national and international markets. This way, we are gradually making our presence felt in the market.”

Seeking support from the Government of Balochistan, she requested, “In Balochistan, the products that are being sold out mostly include Pashtun and Balochi work. We want that the government of Balochistan help us in promoting our hand-woven or ‘qureshia’ work in national and international markets.”

On the other hand, Shazia Batool a professional artist, acknowledging the fact that in Balochistan art is not much appreciated so far, said, “Here in Balochistan the visual language of art is not much admired and unfortunately the quality of materials available is quite low. Therefore, I am requesting the Government of Balochistan to increase the number of art galleries, churning out quantity along with the quality of art material shops to help artists and students who do bachelors in art.”

Talking about breaking barriers for women she said, “Our team is also working for artists. They have formed a group of artists who showcased their talent in the exhibition held by us. We gave them themes regarding social issues and they never disappointed us with their visualisation of emotion.”

Balochistan Women Business Association Head Sana Durrani, admiring the home-based workers. “With the help of women lead alliance, we have held this exhibition with the theme of 16 days of activism to promote those working from home. This exhibition would help the helpless tribes to showcase their works which will also inspire other women,” she added.

“As we know that home-based workers were not considered registered labour and they didn’t get any access to health services and education for their children from the government side, but I am glad that now the bill has been passed and the law enacted through which they are trying to register home-based workers too.”

According to her, this will enable the labour department and the Government of Balochistan to register home-based workers and provide facilities available to such workers.

“After the inauguration of the exhibition, the administration has coordinated and decided to go for a joint venture between Balochistan Women Business Association and Metropolitan to provide these women with a platform to display their work. We are also working on e-marketing to launch our products internationally.”