Global Sistergoods Blog

The hotel we’re staying at in Lahore, as mentioned in the previous post, is secure. So much so that us single lady traveler’s get our very own wing exclusively designed for the single lady traveler. At first I thought it a bit somehow, but after last night’s experience at Wagah Border, where we were surrounded by people taking our photo and checking us out (some not so innocently even though we were well-covered), I have to say that it’s pretty nice in the ladies wing, where a lady can be a lady.

Our wing is separated from the rest of the floor by some artfully sandblasted (for discretion) doors. We receive a quite fancy silk kimono and slippers to wear when lounging, and can have two pieces of clothing pressed for free each day. We also have access to the special low calorie menu and diet drinks (you know, we ladies love our diet drinks). Our room comes equipped with a the most extensive selection of products I’ve ever had the honor of taking home for my small-bottle-of-shampoo collection. We get: a manicure kit, shoe shine kit, cotton balls, Q-Tips, a loofah, bath salts, a band-aid, sewing kit, shaving kit, dental kit, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, hair gel, bath gel, sunscreen, baby shampoo, body wash (different from bath gel, I presume), a special towel for our hair, rollers and make up pads.

We also get a chocolate, a vase filled with rose water, a pillow menu (so we can order the exact firmness), a rose on our pillow every night when they turn down the bed, and a free paper. As an evening snack, we receive a fruit plate, a medium size sponge cake, and a box of cookies (not on the low-calorie menu). Although the bellhops that have come to my room (to bring my pillow order) are men, most of the staff are ladies—I presume the housekeeping staff is—so I won’t be embarrassed by leaving my knickers out. Certainly the staff who can give us an in-room massage or pedicure are.

I do have to say, I am definitely in favor of the lady’s domain. It’s pretty nice here.

When I first got the email inviting me on this trip, I called my husband. “What do you think?” I asked, knowing that being a single parent to a two-year-old for a week might not be his idea of a great time, and that maybe he might worry a bit about safety. Instead, “I think if you have the opportunity, you should go, ” he said without hesitation. Which is why I love him.

Not everyone was so sure…and let’s be honest, the news that we hear from this part of the world does not always portray it in the most favorable light. But I think many people in the U.S. are under the mistaken impression that the people of Pakistan live in constant turmoil, and I am here to tell you that they don’t. I am also here to tell you that most people here are neither terrorists nor anti-American. On the contrary, people are very anxious to demonstrate extraordinary hospitality. Safety, though, takes on a slightly different form here than in other places, as the people here have been living closer to security threats than we do. “Unfortunately,” one of the Pakistani project staff told me, “we are just used to taking extra precautions at all times. It’s now just part of our culture.”

What this means is that the hotels we have been staying at are fortresses, and many places that one might go require several security gates and checks. At our hotel, all cars must take a somewhat circuitous route up to the first guard gate, where the boot and bonnet are opened, and the undercarriage is examined (in some cases, by security camera). There is also a large  barrier, about 3 feet high, which descends into the ground when the car has passed this point. There is then a second check point/gate, after which the car must make a few sharp turns (meaning the car can’t go faster than about 3 mph) before approaching our drop off point. At the hotel in Islamabad, once we exited the car, we had to go through a security check not unlike what we one must do at the airport—put your bag through the x-ray and go through the metal detector. This process is repeated before actually entering the hotel. And these xray checks are common at many places; we also went through two such security checkpoints at the airport, plus point of contact with several other people to check our bags, and even the folk museum had a pretty tight lock on security with several points of contact and scans.

In addition, the project that brought us here has provided personal security, who accompany us everywhere and wait both outside and at the door while we shop, eat, etc. Obviously, this is reassuring but also odd and can makes me wonder what it might be like to require security like this all the time, like a celebrity or politician might require. It must feel isolating.

It’s 4 am and I can’t sleep. I’m leaving in an hour to catch a plane to Lahore so it’s just as well. Had some terrible news from home that our car was stolen from our driveway and they also broke into our house (while my husband and two-year-old were asleep), grabbed our wallets (from the stupid place we leave them, lesson learned) and took off when the dog started barking from the other room. Suffice to say I’ve had an emotional day—one of those where you know you can’t feasibly do anything about what’s ailing you but you’d still like to be able to take some action. I guess insomnia fits that bill! And traveling to meet new artisans should be a nice distraction.

We visited the lovely home/office of Ange, the founder of Polly & Me, an amazing handbag company that works with women artisans around Chittral, Northwest Frontier Province, where culture and tradition prevail and women have few socially acceptable work opportunities. Polly & Me works with local development agencies to provide flexible community work spaces  where women can gather and still perform their roles as wives, mothers and daughters. Ange’s sister Cath guides the design of these hip, fun, and narrative handbags. I loved them, and we hope to develop a project with Ange in the future.

Ange explaining her process

Colorful necklace from Polly and Me

We also visited the home/office of Saidu Sharif Swat. From the Christian Science Monitor:

When the Pakistan Taliban arrived in the land formerly ruled by her late husband’s family, Mussarat Ahmedsab decided she could no longer remain a bystander. In 2007, Mrs. Ahmedsab left Islamabad to return home and set up three embroidery and handicraft centers where women could gather and work in peace.”

They now support over 500 women in Swat, quite an accomplishment! Check out the video on our Facebook page.

On Saturday, The big Expo was held, where we were able to see all of the entrepreneurs’ booths, and talk to them individually about their products and potential for partnerships. I am lucky enough to have a friend’s sister, Sanya,  in town, so around lunchtime she met me at the hotel and we went together on a short drive tour of the city (sad to say that there isn’t much in the way of sightseeing in this new city which serves as the government center) and visited her tailor. I have to say, having a personal tailor would be a wonderful thing. I was able to choose what fabrics I would like, give her my design decisions (with my Sanya’s help I decided on a long top with bell sleeves–not too much bell—and drawstring pants like the ones I saw in Vogue on the plane over; a shorter top in a different, embroiderless, fabric with some pants to go with, and a block-printed shawl). I could have spent a lot more time pouring over the beautiful fabrics and designing my wardrobe but time was tight and I had to get back to the end of the Expo, where I picked up quite a few samples to bring home to Beth, and you!

Sanya and my tailor

Choosing fabric for my new ensembles

Sunday we roundtabled with the entrepreneurs and debriefed on the show and Expo. The conversation was very productive, I felt, and I certainly think USAID has done a marvelous job of training the women to start venturing out to the export market. They brought some wonderful questions to us. Something else struck me, which is that the team of buyers represents a wide range of business size, everything from a brick and mortar shop, to wholesalers, to other online retailers, and large organizations like Ten Thousand Villages and SERRV. Even though we have vastly different business models, we had basically the same concerns: quality, consistency, long term relationship building, and how to maintain that relationship (communication, communication, communication). It’s been a great learning experience for me just having conversations with my fellow buyers, and I hope the beginning of some long term friendships on that front too.

Fashionable fair trade buyers!