Peace Paper

PEACE PAPER — Local Afghans in the village of Jegdalek, Afghanistan, read the Peace Paper, Nov. 1, 2004. Combined Joint Task Force-76 published the Peace Paper in Dari, Pashto, and English to help ensure Afghans stay accurately informed on current events. U.S. Army photo by U.S. Army 1st Lt. Patricia Sinnett

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Vegetable Colors

Lion Brand’s Design team had prepared gift bags of basic yarns in subdued colors, thinking that these would be in keeping with their guests’ cultural tastes but were surprised to find that the Afghan women were excited by the novelty ribbon and fur yarns in bright colors and especially the whimsical garments and stuffed animals for children that they saw on display.


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Rug Fire

Several days ago I heard that three “lorries” of carpets burnt at Torkham, Afghanistan. A Loya Jirga was held in Torkham today to get to the bottom of the fire. The burnt carpets were reportedly fine quality Turkmen, including silks, from Mazar I’ Sharif bound for Peshawar.

Torkham is 225 km from Kabul and 55 km from Peshawar


Female Anti-Narcotics Officers in Afghanistan

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TO NEIGHBOURS, Sheima looks like a kindergarten teacher. The diminutive 26-year-old Afghan sets off from her mud-brick house in west Kabul each morning in a headscarf, long shirt and baggy pants. She even tucks textbooks under her arm to keep up the illusion.

But Sheima’s job is far from elementary. She is part of a new counter-narcotics force fighting on the front line of Afghanistan’s war on drugs. Once she has made her way through the dusty chaos of Kabul’s streets, she swaps her traditional garb for khaki fatigues, combat boots, dark sunglasses and an AK-47 Kalashnikov.

“I have to live a double life,” said Sheima, who — unusually for an Afghan woman — wears her hair short and chews gum.

“Only my immediate family know what I do. I haven’t even told my other relatives because the heroin traders have spies everywhere. If they found out, they’d probably kill me.”

Good Business


Tarsian & Blinkley, with the young designer as the creative and managing director, directly impacts the lives of 300 women in Kabul.

“Afghan women have gone completely unnoticed in the past,” observed Takesh who explained that despite the country undergoing a devastating phase it retains a rich cultural legacy.

The firm pays the women they employ wages that are well above the country’s standards and expose them to market-sensitive practices of quality control while its partners provide the women with skill training such as tailoring and literacy.

In exchange for the opportunity to make a sustainable living, feed themselves and their families, Tarsian & Blinkley gets loyal employees who stitch, embroider, bead, and knit clothing and accessories using age-old handicrafts techniques unique to central Asia.

“When I met some of these women for the first time, they used to cover their faces, but now they use mobile phones,” Takesh said

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Tarsian & Blinkley’s site offers their merchandise, story, and mission