メディアへの掲載
2006年8月31日
【共同通信（配信記事）】
「Japanese NPO helps revive Kashmir embroidery」
FEATURE: Japanese NPO helps revive Kashmir embroidery By Yukiko Ochi TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo - A Japanese nonprofit organization is providing basic Kashmir embroidery skills to Pakistani women who lost their loved ones in the deadly earthquake that hit the Islamabad-administered Azad Kashmir last October, helping revive the centuries-old craft in the process. A total of 100 women aged 16 to 45 are currently taking part in the Kashmir embroidery learning course in the Azad Kashmir capital city of Muzaffarabad, according to Yuka Hosoi, chief operating officer of the Japan Agency for Development and Emergency, or JADE. ''Most of the women, who have lost children and family members in the quake, tended to work silently in the beginning. But now they chat along as they work together on big rugs. I think it's helping them recover (from their devastating experiences),'' Hosoi said during a recent trip to Tokyo. ''The women say they feel cheery and encouraged when they're embroidering,'' she said. Prior to the Oct. 8 quake, there were around a dozen shops in Muzaffarabad selling embroidered products such as bedspreads, tablecloths and cushion covers featuring colorful motifs, mainly of flowers, and some 300 women were involved in making them, according to JADE. The quake with a magnitude of 7.6 killed at least 73,000 people in Azad Kashmir and northern Pakistan and hit the local embroidery industry hard, leaving only two shops in the city as many shop owners as well as women involved in embroidery work became victims of the quake, it said. Most of the women taking part in the embroidery learning course did not have any experience in embroidery before, but they are scheduled to complete the basic course soon and will be moving on to a more advanced course shortly, with local embroiderers as their instructors, Hosoi said. JADE is also providing an entrepreneurial course alongside the embroidery course in the hope that once the women complete the advanced embroidery course they will set up their own business utilizing both their embroidery and business skills. ''When we solicited members for the business start-up course, we initially thought that maybe 20 or so would be willing to take part, but all of them ended up signing up for it,'' Hosoi said. As women's social participation is still not respected in Pakistan, it is a remarkable step, Hosoi explained. ''They have high spirits and it's asign that the women are willing to become more independent.'' The women could also earn more by setting up their own business as they will be able to sell their products directly in the markets, without embroidery shop owners taking hefty commissions, she said. For example, women who worked for embroidery shop owners were previously only able to earn about 20 Pakistan rupees for making a cushion cover sold in the market for about 50 rupees, after material costs and commissions were subtracted. One Pakistan rupee is worth about 2 yen. The average monthly wage of a local Pakistani man is around 2,000 to 3,000 rupees, according to Hosoi. ''The women say they're envious of me for having been able to travel to different places,'' Hosoi said, stressing she hopes that embroidery and business skills will enable the women to feel more confident about themselves and help them lead more active roles in society. Hosoi also said she hopes the embroidery work by the women in Muzaffarabad can be sold in Japan. In addition to the traditional products such as cushion covers and rugs, JADE is thinking of possibly selling products that can be used as small gifts such as embroidered cards and embroidered handkerchiefs. ''The possibility their products could be sold overseas if the quality is high is serving as a good incentive for them. Their motivation is as high as ever,'' she said. Hosoi has taken part in emergency relief activities in Afghanistan and Zambia in addition to Pakistan when she worked for Japan Platform, an emergency humanitarian aid group made up of several nongovernmental organizations. Japan Platform is currently JADE's biggest sponsor. JADE launched emergency humanitarian assistance in Azad Kashmir in December 2005 and became a government-designated NPO in April this year. Hosoi said the late South African photojournalist Kevin Carter's award-winning 1993 photograph, capturing a starving Sudanese child and a vulture waiting in the background, drove her to be involved in work related to developing countries and join Japan Platform. While the emergency phase focuses on provision of food and goods, she gradually wanted to become involved in the reconstruction phase as well, which involves activities to promote self-reliance. ''I strongly feel it's important to make the shift from the emergency phase to the reconstruction phase as soon as possible,'' Hosoi emphasized. One of the reasons for establishing JADE was to realize her wish of promoting self-reliance activities, she said. |
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