Women exchanging burkhas for coats

Women in the Afghan capital, Kabul are exchanging their all-encompassing burkhas for long coats as part of a newly established project being run by an Afghan women’s NGO. "We feel free now that we can take off our burkhas and begin to live a normal life," teacher at the Ariana NGO, Gul Alai told IRIN in the Afghan capital Kabul. "We are so happy because we are not being told what to do anymore," she added. "We have made twenty long coats so far and all of them are being worn by women who work for us, but we hope other women in the city will follow us," manager for Ariana - Afghan women’s NGO, Shafiqa Mahabar told IRIN. She added that the main reason for the reluctance of women taking off their burkhas was due to an uncertain security situation around the city. "People have heard stories about men with guns on the streets and are not sure who they are and whether they are government security forces," she added. With a team of four tailors and US $300 donated by an Afghan living in France, Ariana started the coat-making project a week ago. Set up in 1993, the NGO, which offers computer training, English, German and tailoring classes, was previously funded by the former Mujahideen government and aid agencies. "During that time we had about 3,000 students per year," Mahabar proudly exclaimed. Following the fall of the Taliban, Ariana aired an advertisement on Radio Kabul informing women that they were once again able to work freely and were inundated with enquiries. "On the first day we had 150 women at our office wanting to teach," she explained. Although their salaries are minimal, women are eager to work, she maintained. The NGO is planning to expand and offer more activities for women, including a fashion show in time for Women’s Day in March, however, Mahabar said they were in desperate need of funding. 'We have so many ideas and so many women who want to take part but we need the finances," she stressed. When the Taliban came to power in 1996, Ariana was ordered to close, leaving the women no choice but to continue their activities underground. "We would move from location to location and work out of peoples houses, but the Taliban caught up with us and closed us down five or six times," she explained. The consequences for women caught by the Taliban were harsh. Teacher at Ariana, Rahila Marzai told IRIN how members of the former Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue police assaulted her. "They came to close us down again and they brought leather whips with them. They hit me on my back and shoulders and I was heavily bruised," she said. Another teacher, Suraya Wali said she was whipped by the Taliban on five occasions. "I was bruised for three months, but I continued to work," she said. "My husband has also encouraged me to continue working to help other women become more independent," she maintained.