When many of us hear of violence in Afghanistan, we immediately think of suicide bombings and the Taliban. Through Bpeace's work with women entrepreneurs since 2004, we know that what Afghan women are most concerned with are kidnappings and domestic violence fueled by poverty and the lack of economic opportunity.

 

These brave Afghan women have stood up to create businesses not for personal profit but to create employment and hope for their communities. Most focus on hiring widows, who have no other means of support for their families. Or training illiterate women in trades like carpentry or soccer ball stitching so they can earn enough to feed their families and send their children to school.

 

The women entrepreneurs we assist have created employment for more than 1,400 Afghans who support more than 12,000 family members. Only $50 a month in wages can keep a family from starvation, or from selling a daughter into an early marriage, or deterring a young man from joining the Taliban because it's the only "job" available.

 

By focusing Bpeace's efforts on Fast Runner entrepreneurs, we count on the reverberation effect that produces healthier more sustainable businesses that create employment, train workers, and contribute to stronger families and more peaceful communities. More jobs mean less violence.

 

The hallmark of Bpeace is delivering long-term practical business advisory not otherwise accessible to these Afghan entrepreneurs. A business road trip to the U.S. is just one segment of a customized three-year investment strategy we make in each Fast Runner—a mix of consulting, training, mentoring, out-of-country apprenticeships and business site visits, employee technical training, equipment, technology, branding and marketing, networking opportunities and access to capital and markets.

 

Our goal is the same for every entrepreneur: help her expand her business so she can create additional employment and hope and peace for her community.

 

Projects and progress

  1. In 2010, Bpeace is recruiting 30 new female and male entrepreneurs into its three-year Fast Runner program from Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city.
  2. Bpeace is working with three independent soccer ball producers to unite them under one export brand in the U.S.  A unique fusion of volunteers, corporate partners, and soccer leagues are providing the guidance to bring these balls to market in 2010 and grow employment among the more than 400 women who produce them.  Preview the designs created by LeadDog for these high-quality soccer balls here. To become part of the action, email us.
  3. Six semi-finalists from Bpeace’s First Race to Innovation are receiving technical advice from U.S. experts in their industries.
  4. Afghan women entrepreneurs continue to receive pro-bono consulting from our program manager in Kabul and U.S. volunteers. They are among Afghanistan’s top businesswomen and Bpeace (with the support of the U.S. Department of State Office of Citizens Exchanges in the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs) orchestrated visits with more than 40 American host companies recruited for BART (Bpeace Apprentice Road Trip). The Afghan women are engaged in food processing, furniture manufacturing, radio broadcasting, fuel distribution, and soccer ball production. Their businesses are NOT micro enterprises.
  5. In 2008, Bpeace “graduated” 16 women from our first group of Afghan Fast Runners who entered our program in 2005. They continue to be linked to us by participating in Bpeace networking and training events and allowing us to track their progress through our annual Census.
  6. Early in 2008, a pre-school in a Kabul fringe district opened with 40% funding from Bpeace donors and advisory from volunteers in Dubai and New York. This school provides a safe-haven for toddlers while their parents go to work as teachers, taxi drivers, and shopkeepers, contributing to community stability.
  7. In 2006, the first privately-owned women’s cooperative retail shop launched when Bpeace volunteers helped Rangeen Kamen Artisans open its doors.
  8. In 2005, Bpeace brought 12 of Afghanistan’s pioneering businesswomen to New York's 7th Avenue where they worked with top business leaders and educators in an intensive three-week program, attending specially-tailored classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology and on-site work sessions with designers and retailers. Today, three of these women have ongoing U.S. wholesale customers for their products.

 

Parwana is a commercial printer in Afghanistan whose 49 workers support 402 family members.  Through the Bpeace Apprentice Road Trip, she visited printers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, learning new skills to bring home and expand her business. 

Photo © Paula Lerner 2008. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

In 2008, Bpeace “graduated” our first group of Afghan First Runners who entered our program in 2005.   Both Nasima and Bakhtnazira, aided by their mentor Wendy Summer (center), now export products to wholesale customers in the U.S.

 

AFGHANISTAN PHOTOS


Award-winning photographer and Bpeace member Paula Lerner has accompanied multiple missions to Afghanistan to cover Bpeace's work there. The Washington Post's website is currently featuring her stunning multimedia profiles of five Bpeace Associates.

 

Please visit the presentation HERE. For distribution and licensing information, she can be reached via the contact information on her web site at LERNERPHOTO.COM.

 

 

BLOG


Link to our blog and see more photos and video of our Afghan entrepreneurs working with Bpeace volunteers.