The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe

That evening, the electricity is available for a short time. The girls rush to plug in their sewing machines and make the most of the power while it is available. They listen to radio reports of the war as it continues outside of Kabul. They are interrupted by the sound of the gate opening. Everyone pauses, worried, as Kamila goes to check. A dark figure is striding across the courtyard and reveals himself to be Mr. Sidiqi. Kamila embraces her father. She visited him a month before, making the long trek to take her parents some money. However, the arrival of Mr. Sidiqi in Kabul signals trouble, Kamila fears, and after dinner he reveals that he is going to Iran to join Najeeb. The fighting has moved into a threatening location, and it is no longer safe for him to remain in Afghanistan. He leaves the next morning, taking as much money as Kamila can spare and a letter for Najeeb.

Just a few weeks later, Mrs. Sidiqi arrives at the house to live with her daughters. The trip from Parwan has exhausted her. The daughters bring tea and bread. When Kamila wakes the next day, her mother is already making breakfast. The family sits and talks; they had attended a recent family wedding, and the extravagant dresses they had made themselves led to a flurry of orders. After breakfast, Kamila gives her mother a tour of the workshop. Mrs. Sidiqi watches as the school begins to fill up, recognizing many of the students from local families. She listens to the students’ stories and then spends the day watching the classes, impressed by her daughters. She stays a few weeks and then returns to Parwan.

By the end of the summer of 1998, the Taliban tighten their grip on the country. When autumn arrives, the cold in Kabul threatens to starve the population. Kamila hears women chattering with worry on the bus as she crosses the town, selling the sisters’ wares. Many other women have turned to entrepreneurship to make ends meet. One day, she meets with women from UN Habitat (formerly the United Nations Center for Human Settlements). The women want to ask Kamila about her business; they are impressed by how much has been achieved “without running into problems with the Taliban” (114), and they want to include Kamila in one of their local business forums.

They talk about education, services (medical care and culinary skills), and production. Kamila, they believe, is a fine example of local women who work in production. Kamila’s mind races with new ideas for a business forum; she sees a future where she works with this organization, helping many more women. She wants to join but insists on discussing the matter with her family. Malika is less than thrilled by the prospect. The risks of working with foreigners are very real, as such women “get thrown in prison, or even worse” (118). Though Kamila is determined to take the position, Malika insists that she turn it down. The threat is not limited to Kamila but the entire family. However, Kamila insists on taking the job and tells Malika that she will not come looking for help if anything goes wrong.

A week later, Kamila begins her new job. She earns $10 a month and learns about bookkeeping. She teaches lessons on tailoring and the Qur’an, helping to grow small business projects using her expertise. These experiences bring her face-to-face with the extreme poverty in the city, which only makes her more committed to helping any way she can. Over time, her role expands and she takes on more responsibility. At home, her sisters fill the void she has left behind, and the school and the workshop continue to function well, though Kamila still insists on going to the markets herself. The danger is too great for her little sisters, she believes. Eventually, Kamila and Malika resolve their differences. 

Kamila sleeps on a seat onboard a bus to Peshawar, where she will host a training session. It is now four years since she graduated, since the Taliban arrived in Kabul. The Taliban’s rules have prevented the most important women in the program from meeting in Kabul, so they have had to travel to Pakistan. The bus has stopped and a Taliban guard outside is shouting at one of Kamila’s coworkers. If he discovers what they are really doing, there will be “big problems for them all” (124). Kamila has experience in deftly avoiding the Taliban’s attentions, and she racks her brain for a solution. Earlier, they had asked a stranger on the bus to tell people he was the women’s companion in the event of such a stop, but now he seems frozen in terror. When he finally talks, he denies that he knows the women. The guard shouts and demands that Kamila and her coworkers be taken to prison. Kamila tries to reason with the guard as he points a gun in her face. He begins to interrogate her for a long time. Eventually, he relents and allows the women to continue on their journey. They travel on to Peshawar.

When she returns to Kabul, Kamila does not tell her family what happened. She does not want to worry Malika or alert her sisters to the truth about the dangerous, impoverished world beyond the confines of their home. She even remains quiet when, a few months later, a coworker is arrested for teaching and Kamila herself is warned to stay at home until the matter is resolved. However, Kamila continues working, praying for her own safety. Then, for a brief spell, Kabul is gripped by “Titanic fever” (128); people all over the city are swept up in the love for the Hollywood blockbuster film. The Taliban has no idea of how to deal with the sudden appreciation for the “immoral” film; boys with their hair cut like the protagonist are rounded up and forcibly shaved. Wedding cakes shaped like the eponymous boat are banned, deemed a violation of Islamic and national law. However, they cannot stop the craze; business-minded citizens quickly slap the Titanic brand on anything they can and it sells instantly. Even Kamila is delighted by the film, impressed by the marketing that has furthered its popularity.

The sisters remain in contact with their father, now living in Iran. Their mother spends an increasing amount of time with them, though she has a heart condition that is worsening. The tailoring business continues to be successful. They make wedding dresses and listen to music. One day, Kamila arrives home in a rush, her face flustered. She announces the news: The Taliban have killed the commander of the rival forces. The Taliban now have an open path to total control over the country. As Sara tells the others, this means that “things are likely to get worse” (130) in Kabul. The women slow production as they listen all day to the news. A day later, they hear of how two airliners have crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Many assume that Osama bin Laden (a wealthy Saudi man who had fought with the Mujahideen and now lives in Afghanistan) is involved in the New York attacks. The Taliban have refused to hand him to the American authorities. Suddenly, Afghanistan is at the center of the world’s attention.

Life in Kabul comes to a halt, and many predict airstrikes will soon arrive. The UN begins to evacuate its staff. All the residents of Kabul can do is brace themselves. Those families who possess the means to escape do so. The local economy collapses; the price of leaving Kabul skyrockets. Mrs. Sidiqi, however, is convinced that the family needs to stay in their home. Four weeks after 9/11, the first bombs fall. Distant parts of Kabul begin to explode. The power is cut. Gunfire echoes across the city. The Sidiqi family huddles together for protection. The next day, panic has totally gripped the city. The air is filled with the smell of smoke and bombs and, for days, Kabul is pounded from the sky. As the bombs fall closer and closer to the family home, Kamila is certain that they will be killed. She prays for her country. She prays for “peace and a chance to pursue our dreams” (135). 

The Taliban abandon Kabul on November 13, 2001. Many of their strict laws go with them. Music blares out from shops and stalls. Men shave their beards and children play soccer in the street, but the city’s women feel the party is “decidedly premature” (136). Mrs. Sidiqi hides her daughters until the raucous celebrations die down. Even in the days that follow, the women are scared to remove their veils.

In December 2005, the author meets Kamila. Like many Afghanis, Kamila is still wondering why life in Afghanistan has not improved. The foreign invaders have wasted money without truly helping the local people, but the author notes Kamila’s distinct optimism. In the time since the invasion, Kamila has continued to work with aid organizations such as the UN. She has been teaching and training all over the country but has retained her passion for entrepreneurship. The wages she earns are vastly more than most Kabulis earn; Kamila funds many educational and charitable ventures in her family and community. Malika watches it all with pride. Kamila takes part in a two-week MBA program in Arizona and is coveted by many non-governmental organizations. She meets Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, and is invited to give a speech to American politicians in Washington DC. Kamila tells the audience her story.

The author sits down for tea with Kamila, who has been travelling the world on behalf of charity organizations. She has turned down high salaries in favor of helping as many people as possible in her own community. She has decided to start her own company, to help people now just as she did with her dressmaking business in Kabul. She talks about her plans to hire women and students and to create new businesses in Afghanistan to help alleviate the poverty in the country. Over the next few years, the author meets regularly with Kamila. In 2007, Kamila marries a man who has studied in Moscow and now lives in London. A year after the marriage, she gives birth to a baby boy and names him Naweyan. Just like Malika and her twins, Kamila takes Naweyan to work every day with her, where he sleeps in a crib in her office. In 2009, the author meets Najeeb, who returned from Iran to complete his studies. He arrives late; the roads are blocked in an effort to prevent suicide bombings. Najeeb thanks the author for telling his sister’s story.

The author provides updates on the characters at the time of publishing. Sara continues to work as a seamstress, and her two sons attend university. Dr. Maryam moves to Helmand, a region sorely lacking in female doctors. Many of the women Kamila worked with at the charity organizations continued to excel and helped to rebuild Afghanistan. Ali and his brothers are still in Kabul though no longer run tailoring stores. One of the brothers happened to be Kamila’s taxi driver. It is the first time he has met her without her veil, and she tells him her real name, thanking him for his support throughout the years of Taliban rule. Saaman completes a degree in literature, while Laila also finishes university. Malika raises four children and also studies at university before returning to the satisfying work of dressmaking. Mr. and Mrs. Sidiqi continue to live in Parwan, where they are proud of their daughters’ achievements. Both of Kamila’s brothers also attend university. All of the family members who the author talks to believe in the potential of Afghanistan in the future, that “something better is possible” (145).