Empowering Pakistani Women with Handbags

30-year-old Saira Ahmed is busy making handbag at BLISS factory at Attock, 90 kilometers away from the capital.

This factory provides a much needed job for more than 50 girls and women from surrounding poor families.

Others are making purse, scarf and other fashion accessories.

The brain behind BLISS factory is 35-year-old Saba Gul – an engineer turned entrepreneur with a passion for fashion accessories.

After completing her studies and worked for several NGOs, she decided to do something different.

With her fashion expertise, she teaches new skills to other girls and women from poor families.

“Fashion industry is a unique platform to tackle big problems like poverty. Yet this very industry is ranked 2nd worst in the world for social and environmental abuse. I have taken this as a challenge and decided to train unskilled poor woman and making fashion accessories.”

Saba Gul started Bliss in 2010 to help underprivileged women in remote areas of Pakistan.

She started her project with hand bags and embroideries at Attock, 92 kilometers away from the capital.

She hired local girls and women who used to work making carpet loom for up to 15 hours a day and get less than 1 US dollar a day.

Nearly 40 girls joined the program – all between the ages of 14 and 22.

She taught them from the very basics: how cut, how to sew and how to make other fashion accessories.

“At first it was hard for me... how can I train these girls and women because most of them don’t even know how to write their names. They didn’t go to school because of poverty. But when I started talking to them, they realized that this work is far better that what they were doing with carpet looms.”

18-year-old Salma Inayat was among the first girls to join the program.

“Before this, my family couldn’t get two meals a day. But then Saba Gul picked and trained me... now I can do embroidery on bags, purses, scarves and many others. I earn good money now and have more time with my family.”

Their income is now increased by 60 percent.

With the new income, 43-year-old Farzana can see a brighter future for her five children...

“I want my children to become educated and live a good life as many others are living. My father didn’t allow me to go to school. But now my children will go to school. I make money for them and I thank Saba Gul for this.”

BLISS was started out as an NGO but now Saba Gul has turned it into a profit-generating organisation.

More women are now fully-trained and can produce export-quality hand-made fashion accesories.

“Seeing the smile on these poor women’s faces... that was my greatest reward. At every milestone, I feel grateful for the courage that I had taken to take the plunge a year and a half ago by quitting the job in the US and moving to Pakistan.”

BLISS handbags are sold to international market from the United States to other parts of the world.

The profit generated from these bags are used to help other girls to continue their education in school.

“These girls are trained not only to increase their earning potentials, but also to ultimately set up their own community-based social enterprises. So they can raise themselves, their families and inspire other women around them to feel more empowered.”

And changes are happening on the ground...

Now children can go to school... eat good food... with an increased living standards.

Saba Gul believes empowering women means ending injustice.

“Helping women means helping families and their communities. They’re known to invest more of their own income back into their families than men. Educated women also suffer less frequent and less abuse and violence at the hand of their spouses.”