Kabul, Wed 29 Apr, 2009

BDS teachers encourage their students to sell handmade products at the shops.

Carpet Sales increase daily wage by 75% 

Amongst the students there are three sisters, Aziza, Azima and Nooria. They made handmade carpets at home but only earned about 50 Afs(US$1) a day. They wanted to find markets for their tailoring skills. With the teachers taking the lead they went to the local shops and approached several shopkeepers. Eventually one of them said that he had many customers wanting to buy dresses with mirror embroidery as decoration, but was short of them in the shop. (This is a type of embroidery using tiny mirrors set in the design).

The elder sister said she could make those and an agreement was reached that she would make a sample dress and bring it back in a few days time. She actually made two and when she showed the shopkeeper he was so pleased with the quality and design that he bought them both and ordered another ten. He paid her 350 Afs each for the dresses and when she calculated that she had spent 75 Afs on one and a half metres of fabric, 15 Afs on mirrors and thread, she realized that she had made 260 Afs profit for three days work. That is nearly 87 Afs (US$1.75) a day. This increased her daily wage by 75%. 

Mitten sales send son to School

One woman realized that every woman in the class did some form of needlework or craft in order to earn money. She could crochet but had never thought of selling her finished work. So she talked to her new friends in the literacy class and decided to crochet some wash mittens. She bought a spool of thread for 12 Afs and made two wash mittens. When she took them to the shopkeeper he said yes, he could sell them. He paid her 20 Afs (10 Afs each for them). That meant she had made 8 Afs profit for two wash mittens.

If she and her daughters worked all week they could make a total of 40 wash mittens which made 160 Afs profit a week, or 620 Afs (US$12.40) a month. This family has a son who had never gone to school because they couldn’t afford to buy the uniform, pens and notebooks. Now then can so the boy goes to school. They can also afford to buy better food and more of it. The family find that their lives are improving just because the mother discovered in a literacy class that she could earn money by using her crocheting skills.

BDS Teachers Support

None of these ladies would have had the confidence or the initiative to approach shopkeepers without the help and support of their teachers. Now they have done it once it is hoped that they can continue and build a regular income from their business activities.