Empower Afghan Mothers to Start Home Businesses

For the second round of this holistic economic empowerment course, SAHAR expanded the reach from 40 to 100 women and extended the program from 6 to 10 months, allowing more time for women to master the skills taught and come away ready to support themselves and their families. 

However, on enrollment day, earlier this week, 29 women who had been contacted directly based on previous interest, and prescreened criteria were expected to show up. They were told to come to the program location to engage in the pre-survey. SAHAR's Monitoring and Evaluation Officer was shocked when hundreds of women arrived hoping to join the program. 

The course quickly met the 100-women limit and our team took the information of the other women, heartbreakingly turning them away. Many of the women who tried to enroll in the course described dire living conditions, and a lack of food and basic necessities, bringing tears to the eyes of those present. 

While we are encouraged to begin the second round of Thread of Hope with 100 women eager to learn and grow, we feel extreme sorrow for those we cannot help. We can only ask that you share this mission with your friends and family and help us fully fund the program, thereby allowing us to expand our enrollment to include the other 100+ women desperately sought out this opportunity in Kabul. 

Thank you for your support and know that the women in Threads of Hope are truly grateful, as are we.

Since the completion of the first round of this program and the graduation of 40 women, SAHAR has been working closely with our in-country partners to improve Threads of Hope to benefit the women of Kabul better. Additionally, SAHAR has been working with a monitoring and evaluation consultant to ensure this program's impact is measured thoroughly.

As a result, the program will begin a second round in September, serving 100 women from 18-45 years old in 2 centers located in economically disadvantaged areas of Kabul. The new iteration of Threads of Hope will span 9 months, giving the participants more time to master the skills of tailoring and literacy. 

The program will continue serving lower-income women in Kabul, many of which are widows and mothers, focusing on economic empowerment through skill building. Women in this program will receive a monthly stipend to help support their families and a sewing machine at graduation. 

Previous graduates have reported success as a result of this program, some stories are recapped below. 

Ms. R shared her success story that she created a tailoring class for her neighbors and young girls in her family, where the curriculum she learned in Threads of Hope Project is imparted to these students. She expressed that through this class she can make an income and she is proud of herself. Before the project, she was financially dependent but she is luckily now feeling independent and she stated that this program has increased her confidence, if the program was not brought to her area, she would have never been able to start a class of tailoring for these girls. She is also happy to be serving people, too.

Ms. B and Ms. F are also previous participants who shared their success stories that they opened a tailoring shop in their home jointly and are providing clothes on a rental basis which helps them to be financially independent and support their family economy.

Ms. N is another participant who expressed her story that she is teaching the topics that she learned in women empowerment and health workshops to women, and she is raising awareness in her neighborhood.

With your help, Threads of Help will continue changing the lives of Afghan women!

Links:

• Join SAHAR in Seattle and Virtually on October 10th
• Global WA: Three Years of Taliban Rule in Afghanistan
• PIR Names Sahar Education as as 2024 .ORG Impact Awards Finalist