Travel report May 2023

Dear friends of Guldusi,

In 2022 I was able to travel to the embroiderers’ villages in May and September. Because of the amount of work involved, I don’t write a newsletter after every trip, but limit myself to two newsletters a year when I travel more often. I am French, but both my French and German versions are corrected. Then they are translated into English. A graphic designer arranges the text and photos that I give her, and I hereby thank everyone who contributes to the production of this newsletter. If you would like the embroidery program to be made available to foreign friends, ask for it in other languages.

Trips in May and in September

The trip at the end of September was problem-free. I spent very ­little time in Kabul, but was mostly in the villages, where I could meet with nearly all the embroiderers, although about 25 of the women are still in Iran. As in May, the general misery was clearly visible, and given the approach of winter, alarming. As a comfortable European, I was constantly confronted with the question of how the population can survive winter under such conditions. At present, only the embroiderers are earning money in their villages and thus able to contribute to their families’ survival.

Yakhtshol or Tolo?

In May 2022 I had some of the embroiderers fill out a questionaire, to learn how many of them have a refrigerator or a TV, or both. The results, as compiled by the translator, were:
21 women have both, 38 have a TV, 3 have only a refrigerator, and 30 have neither. When I returned to the village in September, one of the embroiderers asked me humorously if I had brought refrigerators for everybody.