A fierce Kalashi woman Meetah who inherited the legacy of creating local Kalashi handcrafts. Her beautiful ethnic bracelets, bags, caps and dresses are made with love. Women working under her, spend hundreds of hours weaving the beads, fingers moving the needle to form the colorful patterns of elegant embroidery.
Meetah is the bridge that connects the local Kalashi women to the bigger market. She buys the raw material i.e beads, seepees (Sea shells) for the bracelets in bulk from Karachi and Peshawar. Then she provides the local Kalasha women who don’t have access to the material with the raw material for the accessory making. The accessories are then made available all across the country and also bought by tourists visiting the serene Kalasha valley.
Meetah is married with two kids. One of them goes to school. She has done her MA and has given exams for public service commission. Meetah is jobless at the moment and is depending on her husband’s salary and support from her brother. Her husband Karamat works in Dubai and sends barely any money to the family.Previously she used to get orders from outside Pakistan but presently she is out of business due inflated dollar rates. She is linked up with most of thewomen artisans from Kalasha community and connects all the national and international orders to these women hence empowering the whole community. Lots of Kalasha artisans depend on Meetah, daily bread and finances of many families rest on Meetah’s weak shoulders.
Meetah currently lives in government quarters in Islamabad. She is hopeful that the training at FACE has given her new opportunities that will empower many women in her community. The marketing and product development workshops have helped her, hence helping the community.