Istalif Pottery

Traditional Istalif ceramics are a vibrant blue, a color reputedly made from lapis lazuli, which is found in abundance in Afghanistan. Today ceramists also use a green color made from copper, brown made from the powder found inside batteries, and yellow made from the ash that forms after burning a local plant. Afinal layer of glaze is added before firing.Istalif will of course take time. With no electricity in the village, each stage from kicking the pottery wheel to grinding the glazes and colors to stoking the kiln with wood – requires pure physical labor.

A Windy Uphill Climb to Istalif

As we climed further and further into the mountains outside of Kabul we finally reached Istalif. We all fell in love with the beautiful area and mountain village. Istalif, an hour's drive north of Kabul, sits in the heart of the broad, fertile Shomali Plain, once considered the breadbasket of Afghanistan. The village, formerly surrounded by lush orchards, was home to a bazaar with 1,000 merchants.Istalif managed to survive Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union. But when the Taliban arrived, the Shomali Plain turned into the front lines. By 1999, the Taliban forced hundreds of thousands of people from the region and destroyed their farms, shops and homes. Now, in the wake of the Taliban's collapse, the villagers -- along with record numbers of refugees around Afghanistan -- are starting to return, hoping to rebuild what was lost. The village is inhabited by the Tajik people. They are famous for rugs, pottery and embroidery, but first we visited a medical clinic where over 100 people are seen a day. The clinic is making a huge differeence in this village.

A Real Friend

"A real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in times of distress and helplessness" Afghan Proverb

Afghan Proverb

There are so many Afghan proverbs and it creats such a beautiful way of communicating in this culture. If I tell someone that have a nice dress they tell me my eyes are beautiful for seeing the beauty. We have been looking up different proverbs for my teaching with the self help groups as we explain principals of working together, working slowly instead of quickly etc. One of my favorite Proverbs that reminds me of my family, friends and donors in the US is "My dear friend in a distant country, Your face is fading, your name is keeping me alive" pashto proverb A beautiful way to say I miss you and am so grateful for your partnership.

My Afghan Brother

This is Wakil, my Afghan brother. He has made our stay here extremely productive and really knows how to get things done.



We so appreciate his hospitality and spirit of service.

Womans Day

As we headed home in a military convoy to the guest house we were staying in we were assured that the Women would be waiting. Today is Womens' day in Afghanistan and it is a holiday. All of the employees of Sozo International were invited to the house for lunch along with all of our friends from the distribution, probably near 80 people in all. We were greeted with a feast and I was able to tell stories about a couple of inspiring women I had read about and encouraged the group of men and women.


The soldiers thought that I was Afghan, until I spoke to them in English and they found out I was from the States. Michael was talking to an Afghan man who insisted I was Afghan and said he could not believe it that I was not. I am really more and more confortable with the dress and headcoverings and it must show. We all had a great time at lunch and the military convoy left safely, with a promise for us to visit the Camp on Sunday. Womens day is an opportunity for men and businesses to encourage women and tell them how important they are to the future of Afghanistan. We gave gifts to all of the women who were employed at our guesthouse and made them feel special on this day. They were all dressed up and really honored and respected by the speakers and others in the group. When the soldiers asked to take a photo with the women they began to giggle as we took the photo.

Safe or Not?

We sure felt safe with all of the M16's around but we know that is not always the case.

Afghanistan's Street Children

The street children in Afghanistan are a huge percentage of kids that need to work to help their widow mothers and families. As we distributed books and toiletries they were so appreciative and smiling with great joy. Some were confused too as to what was happening and walked through the line without receiving a package. Jennifer and others walked them back through the line to help then next time around.

Helping the US Military with Distribution in Afghanistan

One advantage of working with local NGO's doing economic development is we often get to visit schools and other development work. Partly because they love to show us their other work and it is a big part of our research as we get a good Idea of how different groups here work, and what combinations of work are the most successful. Today we had a great time as a team meeting up with Sozo International and the US Military. Our team handed our school supplies to teachers and gifts of coloring books, toys and school supplies to 465 street children who are peddlers on the street and could not go to school without this opportunity and special school set up for them. It was awesome to hand out the gifts sent by Americans from all over and even our Canadian team members enjoyed their time there. We really felt blessed to be a blessing. Of course we were gaurded tehe whole time and no one could come on the street while we were inside. The military timed the entire event and were keeping clock. The entire distribution took less than 45 minutes, so they could leave before enemies knew they were there. We were definitely reminded we were in a post war situation. We then invited the soldiers home for lunch to celebrate Womans Day.

Bajalia Team meets Kabul Carpets

Learning all about the carpet process in DeshaBarchi.

Carpet Weavers in DeshaBarchi

Visiting homes of Carpet Weavers

Designing Kabul Carpets

Rastagar Carpets is the local business that I have been doing some design work for. The Bajalia team took a tour of the facilities and went into some of the carpet weavers homes. The work they are doing by including social work and fair trade principals into the rug trade here is a great effort towards uplifting the Hazara weavers. Many of these weavers learned to weave generations ago and others learned while they were refugees in Iran and Pakistan. I embarassed myself while looking at the finished carpets and asked who designed a particular one I found to be quite extroadinary. The reply was "you did, on your last trip here". Their execution of the design and colors were remarkable and I really wanted to bring this one home with me. Jennifer even got into the design and color process as she helped pick out things that woudl appeal to a younger generation. We will be headed back there to tour more weavers homes and design more carpets.

Behind the door

I can almost create a gallary show of all of the images I have of kids peering at me and the team from behind the door. These are a few of my favorites.

More behind the door

Hazara children in DeshaBarchi

More than mud

Jennifer stepping very carefully out of the car. See how deeply stuck the car is-it took several men a couple of hours to get the car out after the ice broke and we fell in the sewer.

Embroidery Skills Search

We interviewed several self help groups to discover their embroidery skills and those of the other women in their groups. I, Debbie, took samples from others here in Afghanistan as well as antique textiles I purchased from Chicken Street to show them. The women all looked very closely at the samples and told us which ones they knew how to do. They were really studying each piece as they talked among themselves. As I was introduced to one group I was amazed at how grateful they were that I was here. They kept saying Takashur , thank you in Dari, over and over again while they pointed to their eyes and holding their hands over their hearts wishing me blessings in my work. Even with my limited Dari I was touched to the point of tears. Our translator explained to me all they said I was so honored and privileged to be sitting on the floor in Afghanistan with this group of women to see all that they were doing to empower themselves and each other.

Self Help Groups

Our visits to the Self help group in DeshaBarchi today proved to be quite eye opening for our Bajalia team. We added a couple, who met us here in Afghanistan from Canada, Megan and Peter who are looking to work longterm with Bajalia. So our team of 5 tracked through the mud after our car got very stuck in ditch/sewer. Michael and Peter along with our driver and many men from the village helped get it out while the women hiked the muddy alleys (streets) to arrive at our meeting place. The self help groups take place in a home of one of the members and they each brought their dues of 20 afghani, roughly 56 cents. They had recently increased their dues from 10 afghanis, or 28 cents. It sounds like such a small amount but we learned that these women were making each other loans from the dues and there was 100% payback since it was their money. There had been several businesses started and some women had even borrowed for their husbands and sons businesses. We were impressed with the amazing work of the NGO we were working with, ORA International. ORA stands for Orphans, Refugees and AID.We were there to talk about the women starting additional businesses for handcrafts and embroideries. We brainstormed ways to bring these groups more economic development since the structure is already in place.

BPeace

We visited the RKAT store this morning. The first cooperative store in Afghanistan that was started by Afghan women who are associates of Business Council for Peace. We were asked to look at the visual merchandising and maybe do a little work in that area if needed. But the store looked great. Some of the Bpeace associates came to Afghanistan in December to help open the store and space plan for best visual effect. It was interesting to see how much the associates have learned, and how they are committed to the store and working together. This is a culture where everyone is very private about business matters only sharing a small bit with their immediate family, so doing a cooperative store and knowing each others business is a huge step towards progress. We were working with women yesterday who are even afraid to ask their husbands about their own businesses as it causes family problems. So this one RKAT store is a sign of what could be possible. This is a photo of the store and Laila the program manager for the Bpeace work here in Afghanistan waiting on Megan with the Bajalia team.

The Hazara

Our work here so far seems to be focused on the Hazara people, who are the minority people group here in Afghanistan. The DNA testing has proven that they are direct decendents of Gingis Khan who came through here and killed many Afghans in some citys’ over 200,000 people. We heard of a Mongolian girl who was working with a group here who is helping them, her NGO in Mongolia wants to send people everywhere that that Gingis Khan went to repair the damage that he did through community development. An awesome goal and what a way to restore and repair. We have some work among the Pashtun but they are more the working class and business people. We have a meeting this morning with some of the business contacts I have made with Afghan businesswomen.

Snowy day in Kabul City

We thought the snow would be over by the time we got to Kabul, wishful thinking I know. The first two days here our schedule was altered because of the snowy mornings. We took these photos from the rooftop of our guesthouse of the snowcapped mountains that circle the city. Unfortunately as the snow is melting there is so much mud we have to hike through to make our destinations into a Hazara village, and even during a shopping trip on Chcken Street. We found the snow covered mountain tops are breathtaking. Everywhere we drove we could see them almost like Colorado. The good thing is the cold makes us not mind the head-coverings and actually are grateful for it. Even the men on our team are beginning to cover their heads.

Exporting Youth and Energy

My age has become very obvious to me in India during this trip. I am travelling with two twenty-somethings. Michael Shipe and Jennifer Reeves. We work all day in the villages, ride long disty bumpy roads, visit with tribal leaders and elders and work with artisans on products, production, etc...and do business over breakfast, lunch and dinner... yet they still they have the energy to go out to a 9:00pm "Bollywood" movie. I very vaguely remember that time. But seeing our Bajalia work and working with our Artisans from their perspective has been energizing, enlightening and exciting. When I am on the field I get to do what I do best, and I can see their heart for this work. I think mobilizing more twenty somethings for this work will be one of the most important tasks I do for BTC and the artisans as we go into the future, and if they are anything like Michael and Jennifer we will be in very good and capable hands. They are two amazing people and each have their gifts and will be a huge asset to our work. Michael has had several opportunities to use his MBA in International business and I see the Indian partners light up and receive him with authority when I tell them of his studies. That goes very far here as few people in the Non-profit world have this type of education, and it is so very needed. And Jennfer has an awesome eye and her creativity is astounding. She really has a talent for retail and knowing what she likes and loves the villages. I sent her out to interview tribal leaders of a new village we are planning to work in and she did an amazing on camera interview and met with artisans, leaders etc. Her "Walmart" family ties (dad and grandmother) would be oh so proud of her. She did comment at our lunch yesterday as we visited a retail store that one of the NGO's opened and began discussing retail space, rental, store design and average ticket that it was like Thanksgiving with her family with Indian curry added.

Reviving and Preserving

As a design team, one of our goals is to help India preserve her native designs. As a business team, we want to teach Indians how to utilize the fair trade market in order to revive their communities. We’ve seen a beautiful marriage of these two goals through the interacting with a few, key Indian designers. Yesterday we met with Mena and Pankaj, the founders of Qasab and Khamir, organizations that have a vision for Kutch that will help Bajalia achieve the goals for the artisans and villages. We were able to pick up some of the merchandise we ordered during our last visit to India. We also spent some time with new designs for purses and tapestries. Just like our village visits encourage our work, creative brainstorming time with incredibly talented Indian designers reminds us why we do what we do.

A Typical Indian Day

What an oxymoron! “Typical” isn’t a word we could ever use to describe India! Our days as a business team are packed full (in no particular order!) with village visits, shopping, school visits, leadership meetings, strategizing, encouraging nationals, designing, and dreaming. We have visited three schools, about half a dozen villages, several suppliers, and also a few retailers around the city. Visiting the schools was such a refreshment! The children in this area just have a way of brightening the soul. Our new team members, Michael and Jennifer, have very much enjoyed the afternoons with the children, playing tag, blowing bubbles, and encouraging the like-minded teachers. Knowing our work in these villages helps the children makes every bead of sweat from the dusty heat worth it. Our team was also introduced to a new village with a beautiful potential. We’re exploring the idea of starting a small project in this village, whose infrastructure and self-motivation is prize-worthy. We feel like we could learn just as much from the cooperation of the villagers, and from their desire to better themselves and their village, as they could learn from our economic development training. We have been incredibly blessed with a devoted Indian man, and see great things coming from his daily presence in this area.

Fresh Perspective

The words “Rabari” and “Kutch” held little meaning to me less than two weeks ago. I knew the suitcase of purses that sits in my closet must have come from India, and that the purses had such names, but that was mainly because the suitcase smelled like curry, and the tags said “Rabari” and “Kutchi” on them. But, I had no idea what the hands looked like that intricately and joyfully stitched each mirror into place. After spending many days in the villages around Gandidam, I can now say that I have a greater and more intimate connection with the artisans. And that makes all the difference. I know why, now, they use the mirrors and the brightly colored thread and the buttons. I know more than that, though. I know the woman’s face, and the face of her sons, for whom she makes the dowry bag. And I now have a picture in my mind’s eye of what her village looks like, with its winding alleys and wandering cows and shoe-less, bright-eyed children. I look forward to returning to the states to describe her life to our supporters, and to tell her story. And I look forward to returning to visit her, and see her new designs, and encourage her by telling her purse is all the rave in the U.S.

–jennifer

Ironic India

We finally, finally have internet access! For the past two weeks in India we’ve been bargaining, bartering, begging, petitioning, and pleading for an Internet connection. Only yesterday were we able to connect to a wireless connection in our hotel. Our accommodations are quite nice here in the hotel, as service and hospitality are integral in Indian culture; and yesterday we were allowed access to the infamous “Third Floor.” The Third Floor is the business level of our hotel, and the management allowed us a bit of office space and connection to their wireless internet. Securing a cell phone SIM card was also a bit of a problem. Thankfully, we have an amazing Bajalia teammate here helping us out. Rajan Pillai has a beautiful servant’s heart and has smoothed out many of the potholes on our trek for technology, as well as transportation and cross-cultural lessons. Here’s the irony in it all: when we have a technological problem in the U.S. we call a help line, and are forwarded on to an out-sourced Indian call center; but, when we have technological glitch IN India, we’re like lost sheep!