We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope

We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope is slated to be released by Scribner publishers in March 2016. This book is a collection of 29 life stories—28 women and 1 man—each told in their own words.

Writer and Editor Lyric Winik says, “Afghanistan is often described as ‘the worst nation in the world to be a woman.’ More than 50 percent of girls are forced into marriage by age 16. Abuse and violence are rampant, and in many areas, education and employment for women are still controversial. The women featured in We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope are fighting to change all that. From rug weavers to domestic violence counselors to business owners, educators, and activists, they are charting a new path for themselves, their families, their communities, and their nation. With a stirring introduction by former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, co-chair of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, the stories of these women who are defying the odds vividly capture a country undone by decades of war and now struggling to build a lasting peace.”

Among the featured women are PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® graduates Freshta Hazeq, Kobra Dastgirzada, Masoma Jafari, and Afghan Facilitator, Manizha Wafeq.

Freshta is one example of inspiration and bravery. As the sole female business owner in the male-dominated field of printing, she has faced death threats, sabotage, and threats to kidnap her children. Freshta refused to give in to her male counterparts and today, still successfully manages her company, Royal Printing Press in Kabul. While participating in the 2013 class of PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS®, Freshta was mentored by Jason McWilliams of Impressions Printing Company in Oklahoma City and rose as a leader of the Afghan delegation by receiving the Enterprising Women Award from Enterprising Women Magazine.

Like Freshta, our PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS(r) graduates are truly serial entrepreneurs and by combining their entrepreneurial spirit with our business education courses they have become a force to be reckoned with! One of the most amazing components of our program is mixing the Afghan and Rwandan cultures by having women from both countries participate together. We find they learn from each other; igniting ideas of possible new industries to establish in their own community.

As we celebrate 10 Years of Global Impact, we invite you to be a part of PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® by volunteering or mentoring one of our Afghan or Rwandan entrepreneurs this January. For more information, visit our website: www.IEEW.org.