Training in embroidery handicrafts is helping quake-affected Kashmiri women to earn honourable livelihood for their families and overcome the aftermaths of devastation caused by the deadly October quake. In this connection, a training centre established by Japan Agency for Development and Emergency (Jade) in Muzaffarabad has been helping the womenfolk.
In an interview with APP here on Sunday, Jade Representative in Pakistan Hiroto Tanaka said Kashmiri handicrafts were entirely made by the vulnerable women under "Assistance to vulnerable women by handicraft training of Kashmir embroidery" project.
He said a graduation ceremony was held on March 26 for widows and elderly students who had completed their three-month course. Jade representative said that about 100 quake-affected families would benefit from this project.
He said those females had shown their innate embroidery skills in Kashmiri handicrafts and from patterning to sewing everything had been done by them. Tanaka said working with other women who shared the same plight proved beneficial for them as they were working for a common cause to support their ill-fated families.
He expressed the hope that with this training, they would be able to have sustainable livelihoods. Those trained women would also get micro-finance and business start training, he added. About Jade, he informed that it had been taking part in relief and reconstruction efforts in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and assisting the quake victims in getting self-reliant. Moreover, Jade was working on water supply, environment, sanitation projects and construction of rural schools in partnership with Unicef, he added.