In the mountain villages of Naryn, Kyrgyzstan the winters are long and very cold.  Seventy percent of families live on less than $1 per day and have few income opportunities. 

Villagers keep fat-tailed sheep primarily for their meat and fat with wool being almost a by-product. Wool is made into 5cm thick felt that is used to cover yurts, the traditional summer home to herder families on the high mountain pastures, and into Shyrdaks or mats. See The Wheel magazine Issue 23, 2011.

The Shyrdaks are stitched together in layers of felt of different colours according to patterns passed down in families from generation to generation. They play an important role in Kyrgyz culture, being used in everyday home use, as well as being an essential element of any traditional family event.  But as people outside Kyrgyzstan, especially in Europe, discover the value and beauty of shyrdaks, wool is taking on increasing value.

But felt-making is hard, time-consuming work. Generally women work in groups, making and dyeing felt in summer, then during the long winters producing shyrdaks from the felt.  Typically it takes 60 days to make a Shyrdak with felters earning about 85 cents per day, after payment for wool, threads, beading and dyes. Despite being below the “$1 per day” poverty threshold, in very poor households with little other cash income, this is a very significant opportunity.

These traditions are being over-whelmed by both rural-urban drift among young people and an influx of cheap mass produced products. But the growing, lucrative market in Europe for handmade Shyrdaks is an opportunity to both preserve the skills and earn income. The challenge for Naryn village women, far removed from market signals, is to improve the quality of their output.

Kyrgyzstan NZ Rural Trust (KNZRT) is helping. By providing mechanized hand-operated drum carders from Ashford Handicrafts, in New Zealand, the Trust is assisting groups of poor women to reduce the time and drudgery in the making of shyrdaks. BY improving the quality and output of the mats, these carders will improve the incomes of the women and help retain a centuries-old handicraft custom.

To help KNZRT with this great work, you can donate by visiting their website – www.knzrt.org.nz