A Doll Collection

I purchased these dolls in a handicraft shop run by the Women's Auxiliary of the American Embassy. These dolls were handmade by Afghan women and represent various traditional costumes of Afghanistan. We did not see people dressed like these dolls on our travels. This was a project of some organization to enhance the status of women by allowing them some ways to earn hard currency.

The dancing doll on the far left represents a tribe from the north .The doll on the far right wear the traditional long shirt with baggy pants. The doll seated in the right front represents a Mullah or religious leader. The camel is highly decorated. Behind the dolls are two bag given to my husband as gifts by his students. They are made like Persian carpets. Oriental or Persian carpets are made in Afghanistan. There were small shops in Kabul in which young boys were seated at looms tieing the knots for the carpets. The shops smelled of urine and the boys supervised by a single adult. This practice certainly represented abusive child labor. I was told that some carpets were made as family projects with all the women working on a single carpet for a year or more. The sale of the carpet brought in badly needed cash. Somehow that doesn't sound as bad.

As in everything about Afghanistan, women were represented by only two dolls. The doll on the right wears the full veil (called Chandri) which we saw often on the streets of Kabul. The left doll is dressed as Cochi or nomad and wears only a head scarf.