The three villages of Jaffarabad, Skandarabad and Nilt in the Central Nagar were selected due to the accessibility of the training centre to the trainees. Two Master Trainers of spinning and weaving and a Training Coordinator were appointed with mutual consultation of the Chairman of the NDO and Project Manager, representing P&D Northern Areas.

Finished patti blankets

A patti weaving loom and a spinning machine was installed at Jaffarabad Nagar at the NDO Handicraft Centre where two female Master Trainers trained 20 women of different ages.  The Project Manager of the project representing P&D Northern Areas visited the facility after the machines were installed in the centre.  For the first 3 Months they were trained in cleaning, spinning and the weaving of the wool thread for the production of wool patti. Afterwards weaving training started which was intensive, practical learning for these trainees.

After successful progress by the 20 female participants, they are now well trained in spinning the wool with modern spinning machines that were provided by the project and weaving of the wool patti. This initiative has encouraged the women to participate in the tasks which are traditionally allocated to menfolk in the region of Nagar.

The blend of modern machines and new designs into traditional products has been highly applauded by the local, regional and adjacent communities of Nagar. The products have been exhibited in Karakuram International University and were accepted in the ICIMOD museum in Nepal as an indigenous production of Mountain Areas. The World Bank mission, CIDA mission and international tourists (especially the Chinese visitors) are highly interested in these products. Local hotels and souvenir shops have also showed interest in purchasing the products in the future.

Challenges

This was the first ever such initiative in the valley of Nagar.  Culturally, women have never weaved the wool patti in the history of the Nagar valley.  It has previously been considered as a profession of men.  This resulted in initial difficulties motivating the communities and participants.  In addition, the remoteness of the area caused some transportation issues.  This was managed through the provision of support to the trainees to travel to training. 

Exit Plan/Future Plans

As the pilot project of 6 months has been successfully completed but the objective of training the maximum potential women is still to be fulfilled, the NDO seeks cooperation of P&D on following further activities.

We aim to:

• Establish an exemplary patti enterprise at the Jaffarabad NDO Head Office Centre;
• Maintain the existing loom at Jaffarabad such that the trained women can continue to access the machine and produce more patti products;
• Continue to partner with the trained women through the provision of marketing and supply of raw materials;
• Share the income from this enterprise between the artisan woment and the NDO to maintain and develop the centre;
• With further experience, the artisan women will be able to manager further operations on their own.

Establishment of further Patti Weaving Training Centers

The NDO seeks the further cooperation and support of the P&D in extending the patti weaving art to at least two among the four remote and high potential villages of Hisper, Hoper, Chaprote and Bar. These villages have the richest potential of wool production for both quality and quantity. The Training Centre will foster the activities of both spinning and the weaving of wool. The spun thread will also be used for the purpose of Local Carpet Making and other handicrafts.

At least two new training centres with the existing Master Trainers many be established in any two villages of the above. The local wool production in these areas are high. When the women know weaving, it will be a great input into their skills and further progress their emancipation.

Artisans training on the NDO loom