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March 08, 2007
Fete for the fairer sex
Shazia Shamim, a modest girl, in her early twenties, makes beautiful handmade tissue boxes, vases, handbags, dry flowers, decorated and painted pots, jewellery boxes etc. As she unveils her creations, she looks confident and proud of herself.“Shazia has been trying to establish herself as a designer and received a few orders last year,” her mother speaks on her behalf, for Shazia cannot hear or speak. She does, however, speak through her art which is full of colours and life, drawing this scribe to her little stall in a corner at the recently held second Women’s Expo 2007 in Karachi.
Determined to bag a few orders for her crafts at the event – which her mother hoped she would succeed at as customers had been pouring into the stall since morning on the opening day, amazed at the creativity of a deaf and dumb girl – Shazia expressed her gratitude to the organisers for being accommodating to her needs and requirements.
Despite the fact that the corporate sector dominated the venue with almost 150 stalls (against a total of 200 stalls) at the exhibition, with aggressive advertising and over-the- counter marketing gimmicks, the focal feature at the three-day event – visited by 300,000 women – was the platform provided to many deserving women artisans and entrepreneurs who came down to Karachi from far-flung areas through NGOs and other organisations.
The Aga Khan Social Welfare Board had put up various products made by women, who have been provided with micro-credit for the development of their products. Bint-e-Hazara, an NGO based in Haripur, displayed embellished kurtis, shawls etc. in unique designs embroidered in ethnic ‘Japani tanka’ which they claimed was “abolished after partition.” The NGO helped revive the craft which is made by both men and women in the area.
The Heritage Foundation displayed exquisite bracelets packed in beautiful ornate silken envelopes, made by women who survived the earthquake in Siran Valley and many other areas near Mansehra. As this was the only skill these women knew, the foundation, which is affiliated with Karavan Karachi, helped them to earn money and build their houses.
The Sindh Education Foundation displayed numerous artefacts designed by children to help raise money for more schools in interior Sindh, while the Working Women Organisation promoted the work of the women of rural Sindh.
Many aspiring women had also put up stalls to try their luck at running a business. “I work for a company as a designer but I have designed linen on my own to gauge if I can get a few orders,” says Farzana, a participant at the exhibition.
Though some celebrities like Fatima Surriya Bajiya, Barrister Shahida Jamil, the Sindh Advisor for Local Bodies Waseem Akhtar, etc. visited the Expo to promote the cause of women empowerment in Pakistan, it lacked the lustre it showed last year. Organised by an event management company, in collaboration with the Ministry for Women Development, SMEDA and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the ministry seemed conspicuous by its absence.
Whether it was a change of persons or focus at the ministry, a lapse was felt in promises made last year for sustained effort to improve women empowerment.
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