Sophia Swire talks about her philanthropic initiative and how she carved a niche in the life of women of Afghanistan buttressing their latent talent. By Devi Singh
Khala Zada could never have imagined travelling to India and catch a few Hindi words in the process. A war window, now runs Aayenda Jewellery Co-Operative which includes 36 Afghan artisans, including war widows, is seen with awe back home. She’s an inspiration to not just women but men in war torn Afghanistan. Although she started making jewellery by hand out of tiny lapis lazuli beads at a young age it took another woman from diametric end to realise her potential. Sophia Swire with her nonprofit organization, Future Brilliance gave these women a new hope by instilling in them the belief of self-sufficiency.
She got these women to India and trained them in collaboration with Amrapali. A part of the CSR wing of Amrapali, the training took place in its outlet in Jaipur where these women were trained in jewellery design and business management.
Giving up her plush life in England, Swire travelled to the war-torn countries and worked especially for the upliftment of women. “I think I have this adventure streak in me. Many well adjusted adults choose not to go to war zones. And especially when I work with these inspiring women who risk their lives on a daily basis, I get more influenced.”
But she’s not someone who comes across as a hardcore feminist, believing in the perfect balance, she said, “I’m a great believer in sustainable enterprise especially development enterprises. I think when you combine local natural resources with inherent skill sets, people will obviously be benefited out of it. And on top of that if you layer business skills and knowhow of international market, then it’s the perfect combination to long term development. And it’s not just women we have to include men in the game as well. I’m not naïve who won’t understand that if you go into a fragile state and you only help the women.”
By introducing and popularising pashmina in the Hollywood circuits back in the 90s, Swire gave a huge boost to Nepal. She has done the same with Afghanistan by making the lapis lazuli famous. “What pashmina did for the people of Nepal, I think Afghan gems and rocks have done for the people of Afghanistan. Talking about her Amrapali tie-up she told us, “I think Ayenda and Amrapali are perfect jewellery partners. Amrapali combines this ethnic look with slightly edgy, western sensibilities and it’s working with high end rubies and diamonds whereas Ayenda has really been designed to create jobs for thousand of artisans at more grassroots level. So I want to combine that philosophy.” The interns at Amrapali imposed their newly acquired skills and discipline in their homeland.
Speaking on what can be done for the mining industry in the world she said the ideal business model will be if mining companies could find a way to profit share the local people of a particular country. “Not just giving them jobs but actually having them have a little percentage of the revenue so that there’s an immediate direct benefit to their lives. That will act as a compensation for these people as their lives are a bit disrupted by mining,” she added.
