“Kaarvan
was established from the belief that women in low-income
communities have a right to work in a fair and just
manner”
Recognizing the need to uplift poverty in a stratum of
society where women entrepreneurs were plenty but
production and marketing advisory services dire, Aysha
Saifuddin identified the means to substantially alleviate
poverty in the low income communities of Pakistan through
enhancing income distribution and economic growth. Aysha
was appalled by the irksome journey led by the women
running micro enterprises whose growth was hindered by
social and cultural constraints such as mobility, purdah,
and access to asset ownership.
A
graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Aysha Saifuddin
established Kaarvan in 2003 as an independent Non-Profit
Company. Kaarvan translates to “process of moving
together” and is representative of women entrepreneurs and
traders progressing together. Kaarvan aims to connect the
workers to the local retail markets in Pakistan through
efficient and quality-based Business Units (a working
facility comprising of one or more workstations where 5-20
workers are employed in each workstation) while
maintaining a strong focus upon sustainability. The
business units are located in low-income communities to
reflect the social mission of the program that is to
provide fair wage employment opportunities in a safe and
healthy working environment.
Kaarvan
initiated with a group of 15 women in the village of
Bullar through marketing handmade cards. Despite the
problems faced in building the morale and confidence of
the women, today Kaarvan is providing contractual
employment and business services to over 1000 women living
in low-income communities of Pakistan such as Kot Lakbat,
Bullar, Gujranwala, Gurumanght, Faisalabad and Haripur.
Some of the products manufactured include Embroidered
apparel and bags keeping in synch the contemporary and
stylish trends of the global market, hand made paper
products such as gift boxes, jewellery boxes, diaries,
photo frames, desk sets, paper bags, notebooks and albums,
decorative, drip less and scented candles and decorative
tassels and tie backs made from beads and tufts of thread.
In the
future, Kaarvan would like to strengthen its product base
and look towards developing fair trade outlets to cater to
both local and export markets.
