When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they made laws restricting women from working or venturing outside of their homes. Since in their culture girls can only be taught by a female teacher, half the population could no longer attend school because teachers who were female were banned from leaving their homes. Women were also limited in obtaining medical treatment because female doctors were now stuck at home as well.
The elimination of education and medical care for Afghan women has had severe repercussions on the entire society. When women are illiterate, it limits their economic opportunities. The lack of education for women, especially mothers, also increases the risk of disease and poor health in the whole family. Limiting a woman’s access to medical care has resulted in Afghanistan having the second highest maternal death rate in the world.
Connie K. Duckworth, founder and CEO of ARZU STUDIO HOPE, went to Afghanistan for the first time in 2003 as part of the newly-formed U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, a State Department commission formed to help women in Afghanistan. While touring this country where education, opportunity and free choice did not exist for women, she came upon a small block house filled with widows and their children. Connie realized that this entire group of people had no money, no jobs and no medical care. Because their social structure was designed so that women were completely dependent on men to provide these things, there was very little chance their conditions would improve. Connie left Afghanistan knowing that she had to help these women. “I didn’t know how,” Connie said, “but I was going to help them.”
After much research, she discovered that historically Afghan women had been weavers of beautiful rugs. The patterns have been handed down for years to these very women who couldn’t read words. So, Connie decided to give these illiterate women a job weaving rugs, which can be done right in their own homes.
ARZU is doing more than just provide jobs and money. Their “social business enterprise” model combats the crippling effects of the Taliban’s rule by providing women with a source of income, a path to education and access to medical care. For a weaver to work for ARZU, both she and her husband have to agree to several conditions: the weaver must attend literacy classes 2 hours a day; every child in the weaver’s house under the age of 15, both male and female, must attend school full-time; and the families have to let ARZU transport pregnant women and newborns to local clinics to receive pre- and post-natal care.
Although there are no words written on an ARZU rug, there are many messages woven into it. Every time I look at the rug I purchased in support of ARZU, it will speak to me of all the changes in Fatima’s life because of ARZU: that she now has a job and can provide for her family; that she can read the street signs and the directions for her medication; and that if she becomes pregnant, she will have access to medical care for both herself and the new life growing inside of her. Now, that’s a story!
For additional statistics regarding the effects of lack of education in Afghanistan, please see www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_latest.html. For more information about ARZU’s projects in Afghanistan or to view rug patterns, please visit www.arzustudiohope.org.
