OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Oxfam America and ACTED, which is a French organisation, are helping Afghan potters improve their income as well improve the quality of their ceramics through training and by setting up an economic interest group.

The two organisations are reviving the rich tradition of pottery in the village of Kulalin, which dates back 300 years, where intense fighting Taliban and Northern Alliance forces had resulted in the ceramics crafts and business being shut down completely. Houses, schools, and community buildings were destroyed, as well as the workshops and kilns of potters.

Help to the potters has been in the form of trainers, constructing of new kilns, adding new designs and using improved methods of making pottery. An economic interest group, that consists of businessmen, craftsmen and the potters has been established to facilitate the selling and marketing of the manufactured products.

More...