"I am a Muslim," said the Afghan village woman, "that's why I hide my face from you," she says to the male videographer. "I am sorry, but we are Muslim and we know that you are not in my religion. But I respect you because you come here and do a lot for our village, for our people."

One year ago, I made my first trip on behalf of MEDA - Mennonite Economic Development Associates - to learn more about our work in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I met Zaiba in a small village in Parwan province, northeast of the Afghan capital of Kabul. And while she may have been only a few years older than me, her life - one of extreme poverty, hardship, and great sorrow - was revealed in her lined, gaunt face.

"The mujahideen killed my husband, and I lost my young son during the war. My daughter and I tried to escape to Kabul, but she died along the way, and I had no chance to bury her."

Zaiba apologizes for telling her sad story. She wants to emphasize that she is finding joy in life again working with MEDA's Through the Garden Gate project. As a lead farmer in the project, this enterprising woman is relishing the opportunity to learn modern horticultural methods, and earn a living to support herself in relative peace.

Other Afghan women like Zaiba are now getting similar opportunities to unleash their entrepreneurship and find roads out of poverty through a new MEDA initiative undertaken in partnership with CIDA - the Canadian International Development Agency.

Through the Afghanistan Challenge, MEDA is helping enterprising Afghan women - many of whom are widows - and their families by providing microfinance loans and basic business training. Economic empowerment will not only help them feed and clothe their family, but also send their children to school, earning respect both within their family and in the community. Equally important is the restoration of personal dignity that these accomplishments can bring.

Every dollar donated to MEDA for the Afghanistan Challenge will be matched by CIDA until 2012 as part of this promising partnership.

"Hope is far too rare a commodity, yet I see hope in the eyes of these women," notes Kim Pityn, MEDA's vice president of international operations. "A good future for themselves and their children is now a possibility. MEDA and the Afghanistan Challenge will enable women to help other women, to build communities and networks of trust."

Visit www.medatrust.ca to learn more or to donate.

"Investing in socially excluded women improves their overall outlook, awareness and optimism for the future - all vital contributions to the creation of just and stable societies."

From: Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Report Series, 2009 Afghanistan Report: Amplifying the Voices of Women in Afghanistan , Women for Women International, Washington, DC, p. 37.

Study shows Afghan women gain socio-economic empowerment through microfinance

A recent study commissioned by Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) shows the positive impact that microfinance services are having on women in the war-torn country.

They have more say in household business and economic decisions, increased mobility, improved self confidence, higher monthly savings and better access to basic services than women not participating in microfinance programs. After getting a small loan, clients were more likely to have access to safe drinking water, better health care and sources of electricity.

Here are a few highlights:

• Business decisions - 74 per cent of Afghan women microfinance clients participate in business decisions for the family, while only 52 per cent of non-clients do so
• Economic decisions - 77 per cent of women borrowers actively contribute to household economic decisions (expenses on food, health, education, etc) compared to 61 per cent among non-clients
• Household spending - 87 per cent of clients make purchases independently, versus only 46 per cent of non-clients
  
  

The full report is available at www.misfa.org.af