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WOMAN TO WOMAN PROJECT/AFGHANISTAN
The Problem:
The majority of women in Afghanistan have no education and no practical skills with
which to generate income for their families. Women's rights have been suppressed
for more than two decades by Islamic extremists. The war left about 1.5 million
widows with large families who are experiencing extreme difficulty providing their
children even with very basic needs such as food and clothes.
Other major challenges revolve around traditions and culture, which often
do not allow or encourage independence. Furthermore, the absence of reliable
and safe transportation between rural communities and cities imposes additional
limitations on a woman's ability to be educated and to learn the necessary
skills to have a stable and reliable income.
This problem escalates in the rural communities where assistance from international
donors is inaccessible. These limitations put most widows and their families
in extremely difficult circumstances.
Suggested Solution:
Sewing Afghan clothes is an easy skill that can be learned in a short period
of time (two weeks), even by an uneducated and unskilled Afghan woman. These
women can acquire such skills by working with a skilled tailor in the comfort
of their home villages. For this purpose, a training center will be established
in each village where 5-10 women can be trained by an experienced tailor.
Practical Approach:
This project is designed to establish a practical mechanism that will create
a direct American family and Afghan families. Under this proposal, each American
individual or family is requested to sponsor an Afghan widow's family by donating
US$5.00 per month to that family. This amount can be desposited to the HIPP/Afghan
Woman to Woman Project Account directly on a monthly basis or as a US$60 annual
contribution. HIPP is a 501 (C)(3) Non-profit Organization, therefore all donations
are tax deductible.
HIPP will use this money to buy sewing machines, raw materials, supplies, and to establish
sewing training centers in rural communities in Afghanistan. Each window will be provided
two weeks direct supervised training and after that they will start their own sewing projects
with additional training and support available to them if needed. HIPP predicts that
within 4 months these widows will become self-sufficient and will be able to purchase their
own materials and market their products themselves. In case of need, HIPP will be available
to assist them to improve quality and to market their final products.
Learn more about our first field project at Shullana village
HIPP will market their final products through the United Nations Refugee Program and other
international donor agencies to be redistributed to other Afghan refugees, new returnees,
and displaced persons at no cost.
This project will greatly improve relations between the two countries. HIPP is pleased
to find that there are thousands of American women and families who are willing to
support Afghan women, particularly widows; these Americans are in search of a reliable
method to deliver their donations and assistance effectively. More than the materialistic
aspect of the project, HIPP's interest is in establishing and developing inter-personal
communication and friendship between Afghans and Americans. The organization is confident
that these relationships will strengthen both countries and will contribute to the
establishment of global preace,security, and cooperation.
HIPP will provide information each 6 months to the donors about their donations, where
and how the money has been spent, and what percentage was actually distributed to the
beneficiaries. In addition, HIPP will provide
direct connections between recipients
and donors so they may communicate with each other and offer moral support.
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