Summary
Zindagi Now
Zindagi Now is an NGO that provides education, business and management training, design and jewellery production skills, and sustainable employment to Afghan men and women. This project was born from a collaboration between Design Nokhba Kabuland and UK-based jeweller Pippa Small. Together, they provide a safe and creative space for women to make jewellery and develop business skills. Completing this program gives women a new sense of confidence, empowerment, and the opportunity for a new life with financial independence and hope.
Since Zindagi Now’s inception in April of 2022, they have trained and provided an income to 120 Afghan women, yet this project’s continued success depends on further funding.
Zindagi Now
Company Background
In 2008, Pippa Small was invited by the charity Turquoise Mountain to visit Kabul and help to revitalize traditional jewellery skills and develop a viable business model for selling the jewellery to a broader international market. The project was successful and led to the establishment of Design Nokhba Kabul, a self-sustaining workshop that mentors and trains dozens of men and women in business and jewellery-making skills, revitalizes a tradition that has a long cultural history and has had significant overseas sales that provide incomes for many families. Pieces developed through this collaboration have been shown in prestigious venues, including the Smithsonian Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar and high-end fashion shops globally.
In April 2022, in the face of the humanitarian challenges in Kabul, the Workshop committed itself to set up a training program to provide income to Afghan women. This program is now supporting more than 100 women. The training is supported financially by the sale of a Pippa Small designed necklace made in Afghanistan. The sale of this necklace generates approximately $10,000 a month, covering the Workshop’s rent, production costs and financial support to the women trainees. However, this arrangement is precarious and depends on Pippa Small Designs absorbing all the costs of handling, marketing, and promotion.
