Naseem Ahmed works as a teacher for arts, crafts and tailoring, but what is unusual about Ahmed is not her profession but where she teaches; she holds a class on how to sew clothes, suits, frocks, make pots, bottle covers, jewellery, shoes and wallets at the Karachi Women’s Jail. “I teach them on the black board first, after that we have a practical class where they cut and stitch,” she says.

The class, which consists of 35 keen and enthusiastic students, is part of an initiative managed by the Legal Aid Office (LAO). “The class waits for her an hour before she arrives, that’s how excited they are to learn every day,” says LAO representative, Noorul Saba.

Ahmed, who comes at 10am on the weekdays and leaves at 5pm, is as keen to teach as her students are to learn: “I stay overtime, mostly because the students are so involved and invested I don’t have the heart to leave the class and break their hearts,” she says.

Women in prison have benefited from a programme that aims to teach them basic skills in tailoring and craftsmanship

Unfortunately, prison rules mean that most of the inmates can’t continue their activities outside of class: “When I leave I take the scissors and [other] such sharp objects with me, so they can’t carry on without me as I have … the tools with me.”

Nevertheless, despite its limitations, the programme can be considered a success so far. The project came about in 2004 when Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid formed a committee to introduce recreational activities in Karachi Women’s Jail for inmates, to keep them busy and help reduce the depression and helplessness prisoners often feel.

“Women here are mostly under trial, they come in and miss their families or fret upon their cases, eventually becoming very frustrated or depressed; those who bring their children with them start to fade away from their roles as mothers because of the stress their situation brings them. We thought they needed to be kept active and healthy, hence we started these classes,” says Ramsha Rais, another LAO representative.

The committee started off by introducing sewing classes to the inmates, expanded to include art classes, and then began selling crafts the prisoners made — with the proceeds raised from the sales given to the inmates. To date, LAO has trained over a hundred inmates, and their aim is to train more as they go along. It also ensures that all the programme participants are provided with enough cloth, sewing machines, paints, glue, and other materials and tools as needed.

Many of those running the project point out that it has multiple benefits: it’s not only a way of improving the mental health of the inmates; it also provides them with an alternative livelihood to be financially independent once they’ve left prison. “We also think they need to learn a skill so they can use it to earn money once they’re out, this also acts as a way for them to not fall into any illegal ways of earning which [might have] got them arrested in the first place,” says Noorul Saba.

So far, based on feedback from the participants, the organisers feel they’re moving the programme in the right direction. “A survey was carried out amongst the inmates in the class; they were asked for recommendations and complaints. There was a 100pc satisfaction rate and all the students said the class was good because it acted as a stress reliever and it equipped them with the skills to earn their own salary once they were out of jail,” says Rais.

In the past few years, LAO has also begun selling the products made by the inmates to provide them with a source of income. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid held an exhibition in 2007 where the items were displayed and sold — the money was given to the makers of the products.

In addition, LAO has coordinated with the head of strategy at artsy.pk to sell the clothes and items made by inmates. “We’re trying to increase their [the inmates] idea of what a business looks like, and that can only happen if more people buy their items and clothes. We’re doing our best by [marketing] through word of mouth and setting stalls at various festivals like we did at the Women of the World Festival, where we sold wallets made by inmates,” Rais points out.

Many inmates sell their products to other inmates or outside sources and use the money to help their families. Others who bring their children to jail with them sell their products inside and outside the prison to make enough money to buy important things such as powdered baby milk and pampers for their children, which are not provided by the jail authorities.

Inmates also exchange items with one another in return for other items; the barter that takes place between inmates serves as an internal market which keeps them busy and engaged. “They treat us well in jail, but things like not being able to go out and shop for our kids on occasions like Eid make us sad,” says Nasreen, “however, such activities make us feel like, in a way, we are buying things for our kids.”

Inmates also exchange items with one another in return for other items; the barter that takes place between inmates serves as an internal market which keeps them busy and engaged. “They treat us well in jail, but things like not being able to go out and shop for our kids on occasions like Eid make us sad,” says Nasreen, “however, such activities make us feel like, in a way, we are buying things for our kids.”

Indeed, even a small amount of income can be empowering for such inmates. Amal, for instance, who was jailed for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband (apparently her husband raped her daughter and she did it to protect her child), uses the money — raised from such exhibitions and from the barter system that has sprung up in the prison — on her family and friends on the outside.

The skills inmates pick up has also allowed them to be creative in other ways and have more control over what they wear — a comfort, however small, for those who have little control over their day-to-day lives. “The mothers here, apart from being able to sew their own clothes and their childrens’, alter and adjust the clothes LAO gives them, such as Eid clothes or school uniforms for kids [attending] the Early Learning Centre,” says Ahmed.

Many inmates continue to apply the skills they’ve learnt once they’ve left prison: they start home-based businesses which make them financially independent, keep them away from illegal activities and abusive family members, empower them to keep going on their own and help them in supporting their children.

One non-quantifiable benefit, however, is the camaraderie and the sense of community that these classes have generated — it has led to a sisterhood amongst the inmates. “If someone doesn’t know how to do a particular task, all the other inmates rush to teach her and help her,” says Ahmed. “They’re like my own family, I’ve been with them for so long, I’ve seen so many of them evolve from crying over their cases to growing up into smart, skilled women.” n

The names of the inmates have been changed for privacy and security concerns

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 26th, 2016