Turkmen Women Actives Rights Association Afghanistan (TWARA) was established in 2005 to provide training and life skills to Turkmen minority groups living in the very remote areas of Af ghanistan, mostly in the northern areas on the bank of the Amo River. TWARA identifies Turkmen communities with extremely low literacy rates, then works to educate their local women on health-care, parenting, and life-style issues and helps them find ways to promote their traditional crafts.

The making of traditional Afghan carpets is very time-consuming but produces beautiful results, albeit with hefty price tags. At TWARA, we found a unique alternative to the traditional Afghan carpet, namely one produced from felt, which is much more modestly priced.

Felt rug creation is done by families, both men and women. Men tend to do the most labor intensive part of rolling the rugs for hours, and the women wash and tint the wool (photo right), trim the rugs, make the wool rope sewn onto the edge of the rugs, sew, put on labels, etc. More photos of the rug-making process are at the bottom of this page.

Cristina

Flower

Round Felt Rugs    $70.00 each

About 33-36" in diameter.    TWA:RUGC84

When you use these 100% felt rugs in your home, you'll be reminded that your purchase helped families in Afghanistan.
Designs and colors are very similar to the rugs shown here, although there may be some variations.
(Sorry - the Flower is out of stock.)

Star

Rectangular
Felt Rugs
from Afghanistan

$90.00 each

These beautiful 100% felt rugs are just beautiful! They'll add color and a bit of tantalizing foreign flavor to your home's decor.

About 48" x 34".

We believe that providing an economic alternative to the Taliban is one of the best ways to help Afghanistan rebuild.

That’s why we've partnered with TWARA to introduce these handcrafted rugs to the West, hoping that every little bit we do there, with your help, will help bring peace, change and a better way of life to the people of this region.

Flower
(Sorry - out of stock.)

Diamonds
(Sorry - out of stock.)

Stars

Cristina

Afghan women are cleaning the wool tufts, some having been dyed and others are the natural color. The Turkmen people use reed mats that can be rolled easily. On this reed mat they begin laying out the rug design by making an outline with wool. Once the outline is completely laid out, they fill in each design with wool of the correct color. When enough wool has been placed on the reed mat, they put water all over it and then roll the natural fiber mat as tightly as possible, adding more water.

The reed mat is fully rolled and tied. They then pull the rope back and forth between 2 people, with the rug roll tightening more and more as the people pull the rope back and forth. They do this for hours and then unroll the rug and lay it out to dry.

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One World Projects is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, Coop America, Social Venture Network, and the Aid to Artisan Trade Network. We're committed to helping economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide in a environmentally beneficial manner.