Dinner with a Samarkand family

weaving a silk carpet

We drove from Bukhara to Samarkand today, which I’ll write about in another blog.  But, late this afternoon, we visited a silk carpet factory and stayed for dinner with the founder and his daughter, so I wanted to talk about this remarkable evening.

We had dinner with Zainab, a charming woman about 35 years old and mother of 3 children, and her father, 93 years old and a highly educated artisan whose skills are known around the world.  Zainab wears a traditional headscarf and colorful long robes over pants and a blouse.  She taught herself fluent English by talking to customers in the carpet showroom.  In addition, she is a skilled weaver and, most importantly, a woman who can repair the damage in old carpets, a highly valued capability.

There were only 5 of us having dinner together, so Zainab and I talked at length about her family and their business.  Then, her father, whom I hadn’t realized spoke English, started talking about his life, business and experiences. 

The family is Turkmen.  During the Soviet period, they lived in Turkmenistan and were a successful, educated and wealthy family.  The communist government started killing rich and educated people all across the former Soviet Union and did not spare Turkmenistan.  The father said many of his friends thought they would not be touched, but were murdered by the Soviets.  Their families lost everything they owned.  He took his family to Afghanistan to get away from the Soviet government.

In Afghanistan, the father started a silk carpet factory.  He was already a renowned artist, specializing in the use of natural dyes to dye the yarns used in the carpets.  He trained Afghan women to dye silk yarns and to weave silk and wool carpets.  In the process, he built a very successful business, exporting his carpets all over the world. 

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Afghanistan was convulsed in a civil war.  The father decided to move his family back to Turkmenistan now that it was independent.  He took one of his sons and found his old house, workshop, gardens and lands.  But others were living there, of course.  He began another silk carpet factory, teaching a new group of young women the art of dying and weaving. 

But, he was not satisfied with Turkmenistan, so moved his family and business again, this time to Uzbekistan, where he started the process all over again.  Today, the company employs 450 women, half of whom work out of their homes.  They do not hire any children, who are commonly weavers in this part of the world, only women 18 years old or older.  They try to keep them as weavers after they marry and have children by continuing to pay them during a period of maternity leave and providing them with a loom for working at home if they wish, but only about 10% of the women continue to work after having children.

There are 4 of his children living in Canada and the U.S., 2 in Vancouver, 1 in Tucson and 1 in Bellingham, Washington.  So, he goes to visit them every year or so.  He is also in high demand by UNESCO and other UN organizations to teach his craft to women in other countries so that they can earn money for their families.  As a result, he travels often, despite being 93.

Zainab was in her last year of school when the family decided to leave Afghanistan.  She wanted to finish school, but it was too dangerous to stay, so she was never able to complete her education.  Nonetheless, she has taught herself English and gives tours to the hundreds of tourists who visit the factory each year.  She also teaches young weavers their new craft and supervises them in the factory shop.

She spent 6 weeks in the US about 10 years ago at the invitation of a woman who collects old carpets.  The woman wanted Zainab to teach her how to repair these carpets.  Zainab said she was able to teach the woman some basics, but not enough skill to really do this difficult job.  When she visited her brother in Tucson, a jewelry maker who also collected old carpets asked her to teach him the craft of repairing carpets.  She said he was able to learn in just a few days because he already knew how to work in fine detail with his jewelry.

Spending an evening with these thoughtful, kind people was really memorable.  Next year, when we bring a group to Central Asia, having dinner with them again will be a highlight for all of us.