NAME: Zarlasht Walizadah COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Flower Making (crafts) Zarlasht, 24 years old, owns a floral decor business. She and her family run the shop. Before the Taliban, Zarlasht’s family owned a successful manufacturing company with more than 200 employees. Her family was financially stable, and her parents worked hard to provide the best for
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NAME: Farkhunda Saamy COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Almas Beauty Parlor Farkhunda, 26 years old, co-owns Almas Beauty Parlor with her sister. The salon imports cosmetics and equipment from Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan and it currently has seven employees: four experienced beauticians and three new beauty school graduates. In the future, Farkhunda hopes to open a designer
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NAME: Anisa Rostaqi COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: UNK (handicrafits) Anisa, 29 years old, owns UNK, a handicraft shop. The organization was informally started by Anisa’s mother, who wanted to help the women in her neighborhood. The women were creating beautiful hand-sewn works, and eventually her mother started providing the women with raw materials. Anisa increased the
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NAME: Hanifa Nazari COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Afghan Vision Financial Consulting Company Hanifa, 26 years old, co-owns Afghan Vision Financial Consulting Company. After working as an individual consultant for several companies, Hanifa decided to open her own financial services company with a friend. With her three employees, Hanifa serves local companies, as well as international organizations,
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NAME: Yelda Mahmood COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Yasin Aahmood Logistics Services & Supply Yelda, 22 years old, co-owns Yasin Aahmood Logistics Services & Supply. After completing courses in management, Yelda became very eager to start her own business, especially one that would empower women in various fields of work. Yelda believes that Afghan women are powerful
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NAME: Rahela Kaveer COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Afghan Women Empowerment Organization (AWEO) Rahela, 39 years old, owns AWEO, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of Afghan women. Rahela took on a big risk early in life when she left her home in Mazar to help distribute medical and educational materials to Bamyan, which was under strict
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NAME: Homa Kabiri COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Kabiri & Partners Consulting Services (K&PC – business development) Homa, 21 years old, co-owns K&PC, a consulting firm in several provinces. After leaving Kabul shortly after she was born, Homa’s family moved to Mazar, the only city that had schools open to girls. Because the schools were full, Homa
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NAME: Sakina Ibrahimi COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Namad (shoe manufacturing) Sakina, 34 years old, owns Namad, a wool shoe manufacturing company. Sakina’s shoes are made from all-natural materials, mostly wool and leather. She makes sure that her shoes are quality and durable. From start to finish, the shoe production involves 10 people in the process. Over
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NAME: Parinaz Hissami COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: MEDA (business development) Parinaz, 23 years old, works as a business development manager for MEDA, which works with 2,250 rural female farmers in Afghanistan. While the organization reaches over 2,000 women directly, it reaches 10,000 family members indirectly. In addition to providing farming activities, MEDA helps these women turn
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NAME: Mariam Alimi COUNTRY: Afghanistan BUSINESS: Photography Mariam, 29 years old, owns a photography business in Kabul. Mariam is passionate about her photography business, because she feels the need for a female photojournalist to help tell the story of Afghanistan, especially Afghan women, is so great. After three decades of war, Mariam says women face
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