Journey of Hope 2017 journey-of-hope-2017 | Page 4

THE
PROFESSIONAL
BAKERS OF
BAN0
O
On sunny afternoons from March through
September the Faizabad Women’s Garden
in northern Afghanistan is bustling with
activity. Women come here to catch up with
friends and family, take a walk, picnic, and
buy local fares from female vendors selling
everything from rugs, to tailoring, to jams,
cookies, and pies. Within the boundary
walls women study for classes at nearby
Badakhshan University and spend quality
time out of their homes and free from the
worry that comes with being a woman
in Afghanistan.
In this idyllic setting, it’s easy to forget
there are Taliban fighters on the other side
of the mountains that surround the village.
Under Taliban rule, the women’s garden
would not be allowed. Mothers, daughters,
and sisters wouldn’t dare walk alone without
a male family member, and they would not
be allowed to study at a university, let alone
attend a vocational program and use those
2 | JOURNEY OF HOPE
by Katie Smith
skills to sell products outside the home.
Many of the women selling baked goods
in the market are recent graduates of CAI-
supported cooking classes at the Bano
Vocational Training Center. The six-month
program trains women from around the
valley to cook and bake a variety of prod-
ucts that they can sell in the market or take
orders for on special holidays. This program
is one of the first steps in developing the
economy and opportunity in this isolated
and desperate area of Afghanistan.
A RECIPE FOR PROGRESS
The women in the garden proudly display
their wares — brightly colored jams, per-
fectly shaped tea cakes dusted with sugar,
and pies with golden, flakey crusts and jew-
el colored fillings. A mother and daughter
carefully inspect the confections and hand
over a few Afghanis in exchange for a treat.
They say they will come back to order cakes
for the upcoming Eid holiday and continue
their stroll.
Women play an essential role in
repairing and developing the economy
in Afghanistan. Globally women entre-
preneurs in developing countries invest
roughly 90 percent of their revenue into their
communities, a boon for this conservative
northern region mired in poverty.
Afghanistan’s National Unity Government
has pledged to honor the rights of women
against violence and conservative mind-
sets that have relegated them to the house.
According to the UN Women’s Asia Pacific
division the government recognizes that
“without institutionalizing the equal rights
of women, the country will never be able to
stabilize and develop in a sustainable way.”
However, progress has been slow. In 2016
the World Bank reported only 19 percent of
Afghan women participate in the workforce,
even though more than half the population
CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE