AHAN Team

Baluchistan Pilot Projects

Pilots Ongoing:

1) Participatory Small Scale Enterprise Development:

The aim of this pilot project is to strengthen the economic conditions of rural communities by bridging the gap between artisans and local markets, subsequently building their capacity through specialised trainings and exposures to other markets.

These rural communities have a cultural history in the traditional skills of Balochi embroidery, traditional wool spinning and killim making. Therefore, Islamic Relief and AHAN seek to improve and replace old tools and techniques with modern technologies. That will not only improve the quality but also produce bulk quantity in less time. The transformation may not be easy, however this project will anticipate empowering rural communities through economic development and income generation activities by using their mix of indigenous and modern skills. This project has been designed for one of the most backward and far-flung communities in Killi Noroz Kalat, District Kharan. The basic aim is to focuss on women and their traditional skills of Balochi Textile embroidery and Killim making & its products through trainings.

Capacity of 88 female, 44 male on textile embroidery, Killim & its products and marketing skills will be enhanced.

On other hand effective market linkages will be developed through establishing display centre in Kharan city, and participating in different exhibitions at Quetta and in other cities for the promotion of rural enterprises.

EXPECTED IMPACT:

• 88 women, 44 men trained in Textile embroidery, Killim and its products
• A well-established display centre in Kharan City
• Effective market linkages developed at national and international level
• Traditional products and Local skills are well recognised at national level
• socio-economic conditions of the local communities improved up to 30%
• Women are empowered and contribute to household income 30%
• Alternate income generation at household level is increased at 50%

2) Support Market Oriented Self-Help Group (Killim):

The aim of this pilot project is to develop the technical, marketing and management capacities of women’s self-help groups producing a variety of hand-woven killum handicrafts in semi urban areas of Quetta.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Pakistan provides technical and financial support to female handicrafts producers enrolled in market oriented Self Help Groups (SHGs) to help them increase their livelihood options and improve their standard of living. The goal of the program is to develop self-sustaining artisan cooperatives producing high-quality goods and targeting specific segments of the market. To do so, the program focuses on enhancing beneficiaries technical capacities in management, marketing and product design and developing direct links with key players in the local, regional and national marketplace.

CRC and AHAN will focus on building the technical and marketing capacities of SHG beneficiaries. CRS, AHAN and SHG members will launch two handicraft exhibitions approximately four months apart. The purpose of these is to both providing a forum for SHGs to sell their products and as a means of collecting information on consumer preferences. CRS and AHAN will focus on to assisting SHGs with making direct linkages to distributors/large-scale buyers both in Quetta and outside Balochistan. CRS requested, that AHAN will introduce SHG members and their products to key market actors in other large cities, such as Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

EXPECTED IMPACT:
Through this project the 60 poor women artisans will become able to make their products in modern designs and supply them with their own marketing skills. It also creates a good social change to empower the women artisans. Economical benefits increase the tolerance and provide the chance to women to strengthen their economic role in society.

3) Stone Cutting and Polishing:

A natural gemstone is a mineral stone or organic matter that can be cut, carve and polished or otherwise treated for use as jewelry or other ornaments. Gems exports have decreased by 27% as a whole in the previous five years, mainly due to the incident of 11 September but again gaining momentum. Number of semi precious Gems has been discovered in Chagai, Saindak, Dalbandin, Kharan Nushki, Kalat, Sorab, Khuzdar, Wadd, Killa Saifullah and Chaman.

The Objective of pilot project is to develop skills of 500 young men & women in stone cutting, carving and polishing Promote setting up of micro enterprises, creating small gems cutting / polishing centres by the graduates of the project. Hence generating economic activity in the area, leading to reduction in the Child Labour. The training in the pilot project is proposed at Quetta. The pilot project is proposed for a period of 15 months, which includes the pre project period of 1 month and training phase of 12 months

Save the Children is sharing the cost by purchasing all the machinery, equipment and travel allowance where as AHAN is contributing its share for training costs etc.

EXPECTED IMPACT:

• Produce scientifically trained artisans able to produce value added semi precious gemstones through cutting, polishing and carving.
• Availability of trained resource in the province, leading to creation gems processing clusters
• Opportunities for young males & females to come into this business and generate self employment through value addition
• Production of value added goods, based on natural endowments of the area, leading to increased revenue generation.
• Generation of economic activity for working children in the area, leading to reduction of exploitative child Labour

4) Hazargi Cross Stitch:

BEHBUD Pakistan is a national NGO working for the past 37 years all over Pakistan for the welfare and economic empowerment of underprivileged women and girls, having Head Office at Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Begum Akhtar Riaz-ud-din is the President. Dr. Shahida Jaffrey is the Chairperson BEHBUD Balochistan, and currently BEHBUD Balochistan is providing preventive health care to underprivileged rural women in rural area of District Mastung Balochistan, and also the Vice Chancellor of first Women University of Balochistan i.e. Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University.

Collaboration is proposed between BEHBUD Balochistan, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University and AHAN to establish embroidery centers in Hazara Town in close proximity to the Women's University, across the Brewery Road.

Five groups of skilled women who do cross-stitch textile embroidery will be organized by Hazara women lecturers of the Women's University as coordinating/contact person. The groups will be organized in the Hazara Town, they will be taught the following:
• Leader ship and Social mobilization
• Community responsibility
• Selection of skilled women who are able to do quality embroidery

EXPECTED IMPACT:
This project is designed for empowerment of women artisans through skill development and preservation of the indigenous skills with modern touch, 80 women artisans will be able to make cross-stitch products through training process and effective marketing linkages will be developed. Women will also start contributing and supporting household financially along with men, their respect in the community will further improve. They will be encouraged by men to share opinions and work according to their desires.

5) Churma / Khamak Embroidery:

The aim of this pilot project is to improve and strengthen the economic conditions of poor semi urban artisans by increase in their marketing and technical skills.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Pakistan provides technical and financial support to women handicrafts producers enrolled in market oriented Self Help Groups (SHGs) to help them increase their livelihood options and improve their standard of living. The goal of the program is to develop self-sustaining artisan co-operatives producing high-quality goods and targeting specific segments of the market. To do so, the program focuses on enhancing beneficiaries technical capacities in management, marketing and product design and developing direct links with key players in the local, regional and national marketplace.

Under the proposed project, CRS and AHAN would collaborate to improve the technical, marketing and business management capacities of 10 women SHGs producing Churma handicrafts for the Quetta market. Each SHG is composed of five to seven motivated graduates of CRS’ vocational training program. SHG members have each received 6-months of technical training in Churma textile embroidery, along with additional 6-month training in basic marketing and business planning.

EXPECTED IMPACT:
As beneficiaries come from highly marginalized backgrounds, the proposed intervention is expected to have a significantly positive economic and social impact on the participants, their families and the local community. It will increase the capacities of SHGs to produce and market high-quality churma products which are likely to have a moderate impact on the Quetta textile embroidery market; however, it is unlikely that a pilot project of this size would have a noticeable impact on the regional textile embroidery sector.

6) Niarie-Ta-Hunar (Skills of Brahvi Women):

Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) aims to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged rural population, with special emphasis on women in Balochistan and reduce the poverty from the Province. It aims to develop the spirit of self-help by which people take initiative to improve their condition through collective action. These objectives are achieved through organizing people at the grass root level, institutional development, human resource development, micro-credit and savings programme, resource management and income generation, health, education, physical infrastructure, environment and Artisans Support. BRSP has facilitated the local women by providing skills in indigenous embroidery.

Balochistan is the proud depository of a rich cultural heritage, which is fast disappearing for lack of preservation and promotion. Textile Embroidery is one of the pillars of handicrafts in Balochistan, which bear the living example of different cultures, civilisations, and influences that flourished on this soil. Preserving and promoting them would create also new avenues for rural women and give impetus to craftspeople by creating good income generating activities

One local woman will be trained at Amir Adnan's workshop at Karachi in contemporary trends in Balochi Textile embroidery in collaboration with Aik Hunar Aik Nagar (AHAN). The skills of Local Master Trainer will be enhanced in existing Balochi Embroidery with modification in design and colors so the items produced can have the demand and be marketed to the national and international markets.

The Local Master Trainer will train 20 (twenty) women activists each of two belonging to one village who further train a number of 10 (ten) women each in the second phase in the craft they have learnt by the Local Master Trainer. Hence a number of 121 women will be trained directly and another 500 women will be trained indirectly to produce the indigenous local embroidery in the design and colours acceptable by the market.

EXPECTED IMPACT:

Enhancing the skills of Local Master Trainer will not only enhance the skills of individual but also almost 100 households learning the skills from the second line of 20 women trainers. This on the other will bring a change in the indigenous design and colour scheme acceptable to the national and international markets hence the grass root poor can improve there earnings and livelihood.

Pilots - Pipeline (to be started shortly):