March 11, 2007	Sunday	Safar 21, 1428

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LAHORE, March 10: The Women’s Expo 2007, being held at the Fortress Stadium Expo Centre has a multitude of pavilions showcasing various products, artefacts and the like. But the one essential factor which stands out here is the fact that many of the products have been designed, made and are even being marketed (in some cases) by women entrepreneurs themselves.

On the second day of the exhibition many more people joined the crowds to not only have fun with family but also to see the handicrafts made essentially by women artisans.

One such pavilion, set up by the Ahan group, seeks to bring to the fore the work done by rural women. Brought up on the theme of `One village, one product’ this institution offers sampling services or rather let the buyer see what they have on offer after which interested parties can order the desired item in any amount. After providing rural women with product development ideas, designs, facilities and financial aid, their creations are brought to big cities thus channelling a buyers’ market for them.

Helpers inducted in the Ahan group go to villages and encourage women workers. In the words of an assistant here, nothing from the profits are kept by the organisation itself but everything is given to the rural women workers. Acting as a mediator between the market and women artisans, Ahan provides training, micro-financing and machinery as and when needed. And it claims to have had a positive impact on the economic status of the women.

But the representative at one stall thought that the first expo held in September was better than the present. According to him, this time there were few things produced by local women. While last time there was less imported stuff, this time he witnessed a rise in such stalls. “More and more women should be given opportunities to showcase products made by them and less emphasis should be laid on other irrelevant exhibits.”

Coming under the directives of the social welfare department, many stalls formed the `sanatzaar’ of every city. These aim to provide women training, impart them skills, produce things locally and also to bring them orders for more work. The basic goal is to help out illiterate women so that they themselves can become economically stable. Women who really want to learn are serious about their work and some are spirited enough to further train others. This scheme being followed all through Punjab wants to empower women through training, not only in embroidery, but also in subjects as diverse as gardening, driving and grooming. Many stalls showcase the unique feature of their own place and so each pavilion was different in its own way.

For instance, `chunri’ and `kamdani’ work is done in Bahawalpur while `taarkashi’ is a practice common in another city. These `sanatzaars’ give away 10 per cent of the total sales to the government, 25 per cent goes in buying raw material as the remaining 65 per cent forms the wages of the workers employed.

Another such organisation — Sungi Development — is nowadays working with the women of the earthquake-affected areas. Workers here use their own apparatus and materials and are given money after sales, of which 15 per cent is kept by Sungi itself. On the other hand, Roshni Association works with handicapped elders, males and females, offering them training in woodwork, textiles and bakery. The organisation believes that such employment acts as therapy for these people and the profits made by selling their products are used solely for their uplift.

A woman entrepreneur of a private boutique designs stuff herself. She was of the view that exhibitions like this should be held every three months. “Expo centres should be utilised fully, giving everyone interested in the event an opportunity to participate especially as many of our handmade products are unique, incomparable and attract many tourists. However, the government should try and decrease the rate charged for the stalls.”

Another pavilion from Haripur, NWFP, showcased textiles made in the `phulkari’ style - done without the aid of machines, relying on the needle, the hand, the mind and the eyes alone, but done with such a precision and accuracy that it surely must hurt the eye if done for a long time. Nasreen, working in the factory for the last two years, feels that she is now more aware. She goes to various markets herself now and has gained more knowledge about what people want and like in clothes and styles. Working two to three hours daily, Nasreen can finish a short `kurta’ with light embroidery within a day, while a heavily-embroidered cushion cover can take up to 10 to 15 days in all.

While there remain many others who are not documented here, the expo was witness to the oft-forgotten phenomenon - that a simple encouraging smile or word can go a long way in not only uplifting the mood of an individual but also affect his or her productivity and the quality of work.