Online Seller Girl in Badakhshan

     Writer: Aqsa Sediqi

The information provided by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Afghanistan, more than 6 million Afghans are using internet services and some of them use the internet for their economic activities.

AEPO’s writer/producer had a traveled to Badakhshan province and she has talked to a girl, Shukria Shahrani, a resident of Faizabad city.

Miss Shahrani says about her activities: “at the beginning, I had been working for an NGO and during my job, I traveled to Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan, Herat and Kabul provinces. I went to several exhibitions. The activities of those provinces are more promoted and most people had information about their products but no one was aware of Badakhshan’s handicrafts and herbs. When I came back to Badakhshan, I opened an online store. I started my activities with one million Afghanis. I have rent a workhouse for our activities. About 50 women are busy at work with me. At the beginning, I made a page for introducing our products. Our customers order different designs through our page and we prepare their order. We produce different kinds of handicrafts like Badakhshi rugs and cloth, and we also sell natural medical herbs which are found in Badakhshan province. We make cashmere sweaters from pure natural wools. We buy wool from other districts and then our workers color it with potato peels and onionskins. The cost of one cashmere sweater reaches 8000 Afghanis. Our monthly net income reaches up to 50 thousand Afghanis.”

Women Friday Bazaar:

In different parts of Afghanistan, people hold a bazaar on a particular day for selling their goods and products. All sellers of these bazaars are men but recently, a women bazaar is holding in Kabul city. In this bazaar, all sellers are women.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to Nahid Hamidi who sells precious stones’ pieces of jewelry at Friday Bazaar in Kabul city. Ms. Hamidi says about her activities: “at the beginning, I had a shop and I had been paying 8 thousand Afghanis monthly but had not enough selling. When they opened Friday Bazaar, I also come here to show my pieces of jewelry.

More customers like engraving on pieces of jewelry. I accept and prepare their orders. Those who have the work permit could participate in this bazaar and as more women want to sell their products in this bazaar, they should rent a booth bi-weekly and the rent of each booth for one day is 100 Afghanis. Once a woman bought about 100 thousand Afghanis pieces of jewelry from me.”