New skills, new opportunities in a new Afghanistan

She works as a seamstress in a clothes shop in central Kabul which was set up using donations received by CARE International UK in its Times Christmas 2003 Appeal.

“Before I started this project, my children and I only ate twice a day, now I am able to provide proper meals three times a day. Before I learned tailoring, I used to make a living by washing clothes and making quilts - but the income I am able to make by selling clothes is much better.

“I used to always have debts with shopkeepers because I never had enough money to buy food. Now I am able to take better care of myself and my children and I no longer have debts. Through this programme, I also learned to read and write - I’m keen for my son to finish school so that he can find a good job,” said Parween.

The shop where she works is managed by Bakhnazera Niazi, who used to teach in a Kabul high school. She is aware that her shop is crucial in providing jobs and training for women such as Parween, but also believes it has wider significance.

"Maybe the men who own shops will laugh because all my clothes are hand made… but I’m proud to be making my own clothes at the same time as helping other women who are less fortunate than me,” she said.

Even educated, professional women are still struggling to recover from the legacy of the Taliban regime that banned women from working or being educated for almost six years. For widows, life is even more precarious, with housing shortages, debt and social exclusion to cope with. Many have to borrow money to survive, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.

Before CARE’s Humanitarian Assistance to Widows in Afghanistan (HAWA) project started, 75% of widows were subsisting on an income of £11 or less per month, and 45% of these women were living on less than £6 per month.

But it is through enterprises like this shop that the role of women will slowly change. Bakhnazera sees her job as setting an example for other Afghan women, to inspire them and encourage them to break into the male-dominated environment.

The HAWA project has helped 10,000 widows since 1996. It began by providing monthly food rations to women and their children but CARE recognised the need to increase the widows’ self-sufficiency and reduce their dependence on food handouts, so the project developed into vocational and business skills training. Other HAWA enterprises include raising poultry to sell eggs and working in beauty salons.