afghanhands

In Memory of Belqis: In the Name of Allah, I Declare the Men in My Country Cowards

                            

Belqis Jaan was a lady that I only met a couple of times but became my hero instantly.  She was elected to be the head of Shura (council) for her village which is a large body of refugee returnees back to Afghanistan.  The camp where they returned is called Sheikh Mesree.  When I visited last year, there was no cold drinking water, no schools, no playgrounds and in many cases not even proper shelter for people to live in.  UNHCR handed families $100.00 and a cloth tent, rationed food which took every last bit of dignity away from them and our "DEMOCRATIC" government, gave them barren land to live on.  The temperature hits easily 110F during spring and summer in a nice day.  There is NO electricity.  There are no buses to take men to near by cities for work.  There ARE NO NEAR BY CITIES.  Belqis had a voice. She was ELECTED to be the voice for the village and a small tiny very low voice to thousands of women who otherwise are terrified to be heard. 
When we ( Afghan Hands with the help and support of Eastern Regieon women's Handicraft Association, Sana Center and DAI/ALP) decided to dig wells for the camps (total of 5) for the village,  the men were fighting about how, and where the wells should go etc.  Belqis came in, shut them up very politely and said, the wells are for EVERYONE in the camp.  We should not designate areas that will benefit one family or one neighborhood.  And that was that.  It was all decided!! Just like that!  I was in aw for how a woman who has never been schooled, had to cover herself most of her life and had to keep her head and eyes down, her voice low can find such fire and courage to make men, Afghan men, to listen and obey.

Today I found out that Belqis jaan was assassinated by a man who walked in to a meeting, killed her and the child in her womb and walked away.  Yes, she was pregnant!! He was Not captured, Not killed by all the cowards that witnessed this ungodly act of violence and the whole thing just... quieted down.  She was killed because she dared to speak out.  And by that I don't mean any feminist liberal anything..NO SIR, just that children should have schools, women should be able to take part in providing for families, common sense thing that in a normal, real world is not even controversial.

Today I call us cowards because we let our girls get acid thrown on their faces, or kidnapped and raped for the crime that they attend school.

Today, I call us cowards because we don't stand up and say that IT IS ENOUGH!!! We don't say STOP to Suicide assassins that killed my friends 23 years old boy on his way from the market after a week of his wedding party. They collected his body even from top of nearby trees...

 We don't stand up and say ENOUGH to those that kill in the name of OUR HONOR, OUR RELIGION, OUR COUNTRY.

And today I call us cowards because we let a man kill a gem of a woman named Belqis and we let him walk away...

tears of JOY

today, I received a new shipment from Kabul.  I was expecting our usual motifs which I adore but I saw the new pieces and the new work... I started crying uncontrollably.  The beauty of each shawl is so overwhelming and to KNOW the conditions in which the artisans work under and the fear and unrest that is lurking over them in every turn and every corner just destroyed me.  I have never been more touched and I'm so proud of the work they are doing despite of the fear, poverty and sadness that surrounds every participant. 
Our second group is up for going to grade 4(we can start them early now so they can learn English, geography, etc) and had the opportunity to be enrolled in regular school but their families are afraid.  A girl was kidnapped on the way to school and another had her face burned by acid just because she was going to school... so families are terrified and we cannot send out ladies to regular school.  SO we just teach them at our centers for now. 
We take 2 steps forward and maybe one back...but as long as we go forward, I'm thrilled and happy to keep looking ahead.
Mike Serdiouk, my partner who has been tirelessly running the project sent a computer to Nabila Jaan Hashimi who has been working with us since day one as a volunteer and assigned a salary to her which made me feel so so very happy to have a very able new employee in Kabul.  And now with our OWN computer, we can stay in touch with our office on a daily basis.
Below are just a hint of the new incredible work...

Small lined scarf

Shawl with gold flowers

scarf with black freehand flowers

We Don't Really Get What Has Happened

I just had a phone conversation with a friend of mine in SF who had returned from viewing the exhibit of "lost Treasures of Afghanistan".  He used to live in Kabul in the late 70's and mentioned how painful it was to see some of those amazing pieces and how they were lumped together in a small room, not given the proper respect they deserved not only because they were so precious but also what they had endured.

Like those artifacts, Afghan society and culture has been through one of the toughest time ever seen in any society.  The socio-cultural regression coupled with illiteracy have taken a toll on all the people living in Afghanistan especially the women. 

Now and then, I talk about it to friends at gatherings or people see a "special" report on Afghanistan and feel bad about it, but the truth is... I really don't think we get what happened in that country.  The last 30 years and more have been a total cultural genocide in Afghanistan.  imported points of view, Arab or western alike have dug their way into our unique and way of thinking freely, and eventually have made our society one that is not in line with the way Afghans ever lived nor the way Islam wants us to live.  This Arab tribal mentality has stripped us clean of any self image that we had as a nation.  They even went as far as blowing up our giant Buddhas, killing any traces of Sufi's and flattened our shrines... and the world watched, shed a tear of two but DID NOT GET IT!!!

As I'm trying to bring attention to our cause, I see how causes can go "in and out" of fashion.  Sadly Afghanistan has never been in fashion and it is really hard to get people's attention and keep them focused on what has happened and what is happening there.  The only time I heard everyone speak of it in a semi positive manner was during the allied invasion of Afghanistan when they partnered up with "Northern Alliances" or for the lack of better word, the same old criminals that let to utter destruction and literal rape of our beloved Kabul.  The comments I heard  were: "They are cute those guys in Northern Alliances".  Or "they look just like us".  All thanks to the bias western media filming fair complected Afghans to stir compassion for this band of thugs and create support from the public, because they "look just like us".

How can we keep people focused and make sure the women in Afghanistan can start living a life that is rightfully and Godfully theirs???  I go in and out of a depressed to an empowered state of consciousness when it comes to my work in Afghanistan.  The past 2 months have been more depressed than empowered and it is all because I do not have the voice to keep people's attention focused on what is happening in Afghanistan.  Unless one lives in the reality of Afghanistan, one cannot "get" what has happened to that now a distant memory of a society and a culture. I "get" that it is impossible to understand what is happening there.  How can I make it clear? How can I bring focus into it?

I need HELP.  I want us to remember, to witness and to rebuild. 

So Sweet That No Editing Is Needed

I just got this very heartwarming message from Nabila Hashimi.  She is our project manager's daughter and helps us out as a volunteer between college and a full time job.  With a very formal Dari resonating English she wrote:

"Dear Both,
Convey with lots of happinesses and respects to you from Kabul Center side , and all its workers hope you both will be successful in routeen tasks, all is fine here and doing well, kindly find attached the report for the month of Decembe 2008.
Dear Matin Jan,
Afza Jan eagerly asked me to email you for being informed about only 2000 $ is left in bank account which would not be sufficient for the current month 's payment.
The other works as taking orders are going quite nicely within Zulaikha jan's center as well mountain tourquise.
Two months ago 9 number of shawls were made which were ordered by Mountain Tourquise got comepletly done as they wanted , they were quite happy and loved our work alot.
Mom has made thier order within taking 30% added benefit more than the payment of the worker as you were requested to be done so.
The amount of the money has been recieved and now on,,, Ms. Sophia once more has ordered 31 number of shawls which is under completion process and women are working on them .  Ms. Zulaikha also was given an overcoat for being embroidery on it as sample. It was made  successfully same as she wanted and now 5 more over coat is made as sample and the sixth one is under process.
Both Centers are quite happy and express thier excitment about works our center women is doing. And it appears that both centers  would be our future customers.
By Saturday , Some numbers of new designed shawls would be sent to you as well.
Hope all pass with you  and kindly send me reciept confirmation for the report or reply me back soonest possible.
Kind Regards,
Nabila Hashimi  "

Long Live Friends and Friendships!!

Dearest friends,  I wish you all a very happy 2009!!
It has been a long time since I have been writing on this blog.  I have been feeling sorry for myself for being blessed with a lot of work and then having means and access to all kinds of therapies available for my back... until it dawned on me and made me feel ashamed of being lazy.  So with that said...

Joanne Hom and Marti Massoud, friends, angels, family that I have met in my first few years in the US and have been there for me all this time started to talk about hosting individual events in their own homes (in Piedmont and in Belvedere) in order to sell and promote Afghan Hands scarves.  As we talked more, and my other friends got involved, Naz Toloui, Dee Golden, Sina Cross, they decided to work together and make it all one event in SF. 

As usual, Shazia Sikander seems to be the internal glue that have been blessing Afghan Hands from the begining.  She had introduced me to Todd Hosfeld a few years back and he offered his amazing gallery space for us to use.  Not only that, he actually pre-sold over $6000.00 to his clients and friends.  with this kind of love and force behind us, I knew we were going to have a fantastic event.My friend Nilab Nassery got on the phone and secured drinks for the event, Sina and Joanne, appetizers, Marty and her husband and partner Kenny got all the tables, glasses etc, and caterers in order to secure a smooth elegant flow of the event.

Steven Addis, Joanne Hom and their beautiful and super chic kid Sabina were already in the gallery with two of Sabina's very sweet and cute friends friends (Julia Franenkel and Alanah Anderson) to set up. I arrived along with Marti and Kinny , Tod Hosfelt and his staff, Saundra and her friend Fer Jimenez, Vincent Hom and Linn Hom ( Joanne's brother and sister).  Steven did amazing job with designing tables.  As we started to set up, my nieces and sisters arrived and we were done in no time. 

The event was a total success.  Sabina, Julia and Alanah greeted everyone and sold raffle tickets. Even my grand niece little Ari Shirgul sold raffle tickets :-).  Kinny  bar tended ( you will be amazed at how good an investment banker can be behind a bar ;-)).  Saundra, Fer, Vincent and Linn at the cashier window were on fire!!! and boy, did they work hard!!! My nieces, Naz Amiri, Kat Aurang, the Aziz sisters (Mariam, Zari and Fati), and Sina Homayun along with my sisters, Mina, Trina, Shakila, and Sina my friends Nilab Nassery and Erama Oustalniol worked as sales girls on the tables and sold everything there was.  Steven Addis, and John Lee were taking pictures and Sina's friend Judy Lam was directing John on where to point his camera :-). Steven was restocking empty table like a madman!!!  

With all this support, we sold $25,000.00 in a mere two and half hour during the event. This means securing almost 5 months of livelihood for 100 women in Kabul! Thank you San Fransicans!! Here are some of the pictures that John took during the event.  Enjoy!!!

 
 

 

Sabina and Julie hard at work

 

Joanne discussing Sabina, Julie and Alanah's responsabilities

 

 

Joanne before gamming up getting her hands dirty

Alanah, Sabina, Julia and Mariam 

Finally John snapped a picture of Dee

 Julia, Mariam, Vincent,Linn, Kinny, Sina, Kat on the left

Saundra, Marit, Little Sina, Zari and Fati with me on the right

Aww... how beautiful they are...

Nilab, Erama and Saundra

 

My mom and dad, Karima and Ahad Maulawizada

My friend Vasyl said they are so formal that they look like Japanese dolls in their black suits :-)

Judy lovingly displaying her favorite piece

 

John is striking a pose and taking a break from the camera

 

now this new method of embroidary made me so sad and so happy.  It is the technique they use to make the mesh in front of the burqa.  but they embellished it with butterflies. 

Long Live Friends and Friendships!!