Turquoise Mountain: two years on

Posted 19th May 2008 15:23pm

By Rory Stewart, Chief Executive of Turquoise Mountain

The Prince of Wales and President Karzai established the Turquoise Mountain in late January 2006. I moved to Kabul a week later to set up the foundation. By the end of the month, we had rented the empty front room of a tailoring shop and hired one employee.

In 2008, we have over 250 staff. We have brought services, a clinic and a school to the community of Murad Khane (the old city area where we work), restored over 50 historic buildings, held international exhibitions and sold Afghan art on three continents. We have cleared 8000 trucks of garbage out of the old city, dropping the street level by seven feet and creating near total employment for every unemployed adult male in the area. We had 550 applicants for 30 places this year in our Institute. The Institute is now established as Afghanistan’s leading arts and crafts school, and we have been asked by the Minister of Education to redevelop other craft vocational schools in Kabul.

Only a year ago, odds seemed heavily against us. The old city was still scheduled for demolition, in line with a 1976 East German masterplan. Landlords were reluctant to let us repair their houses. Craft exports were crippled by logistical problems and high costs. Our tiny management team were young short-term volunteers. It was almost impossible to persuade architects or craftsmen to move to Kabul. At one point, we were within three weeks of running out of our money.

Now there is real confidence and energy. Each time I return from a trip I find a dozen unexpected and successful innovations. The Afghan government has registered the Institute and put a protection order on Murad Khane. The Canadian government has committed three million dollars to the project.

On each street corner in the old city, a thousand daily interactions combine trade and religion, public space and private space, female shoppers and traditional craft producers. Development in this neighbourhood and in the testing conditions of Afghanistan requires flexible funding procedures and managers who take quick decisions, are tolerant of risk, and support broad and comprehensive programs. These are difficult in an aid context increasingly dominated by bureaucracy, metrics, international committees and theory.

But they are not impossible.

We have succeeded in part because of The Prince of Wales, who pursued an opportunity in an environment which would have intimidated most international donors. He was prepared to trust the people on the ground and combine immediate private funding with longer-term government support.

We have been able to draw on the examples and knowledge of The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, The Young Business Leaders Forum, The Prince’s Trust and The Prince’s School for Traditional Arts, and combine their different approaches in a single place with a single community. These diverse groups share a common confidence in historic communities, arts and cities, in culture as a transformative tool and in the practical importance of livelihoods, business and sustainability. This confidence is vital for Kabul.

But the real lesson of the last two years has been a lesson in humility. Insofar as we have survived and prospered, it has been because we have listened to our Afghan colleagues and the community of Murad Khane, and have been guided by their preferences and their solutions. Their know-how, tested by experience, has an agility, a power and a legitimacy which no foreign programme can match.
 

New volunteering opportunity at Turquoise Mountain

Posted 18th November 2008 16:31pm by Alison Duguid

Are you looking for a volunteering opportunity in Central Asia? The British charity Turquoise Mountain is looking for a volunteer for three months or more in its main office in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Work would most likely be office-based and involve a significant degree of administrative activity. The candidate should have a high degree of cultural sensitivity and an interest in Central Asia. Ideally she or he would also have an interest in urban regeneration in a post-conflict region, together with a university-level education. Accommodation, insurance and food is provided.

If you are interested, please email jobs@turquoisemountain.org, with an email headed 'Volunteer Position'. For more background information, visit Turquoise Mountain's website.

For other volunteering opportunities within The Prince's Charities, visit our Volunteering page.