When Nadjoari married at 14, she was a child. Her own mother agreed.
“When I got married,” Nadjoari says, “my mom wouldn’t explain pregnancy to me because she considered it a conversation for adults.”
Read moreMarriage Will Be My Choice
What if at the age of 15, your parents introduced you to your husband?
You saw your dreams, your ambitions vanish right before your eyes….replaced with images of a new life: an obedient wife, no longer able to attend school, pulled away from the home you have always known, and now living with strangers while taking care of your young children.
Read moreAFGHAN WOMEN ARE ALL BUSINESS IN THE SEARCH FOR EMPLOYMENT
© David Snyder/Creative Associates International.
When Kamila Sidiqi started her company in 2005, she was an exception in Afghanistan: an educated woman and an entrepreneur. Few women at that time had access to education – only 18 percent of women were literate – and even fewer were able to start a business.
Read moreNAILING DOWN A SKILLED LABOR FORCE IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN
© David Snyder/Creative Associates International.
MEHR saw huge potential in training construction company employees, and used the AWDP grant to develop specialized courses for them in addition to skilled plumbers, steel workers and electricians.
Read moreDEVELOPING A SKILLED WORKFORCE IN AFGHANISTAN
© David Snyder/Creative Associates International.
Afghanistan is plagued by a gap between high demand for mid-level technical and business management skills and the relatively low number of Afghans who possess them. AWDP reverses this pattern by using a market-driven model, where employers are invited to help customize programs based on their actual needs for specific skills.
Read moreAmericans by Choice: Sharing the Joy of Teaching
Semra Seifu learned the basics of teaching at an unusually young age: She was only seven years old when she set up her first classroom in her Addis Ababa, Ethiopia home.
She would line up school notebooks on her bed, arranging them in neat rows, just like the desks at her actual school. Once the classroom was complete, she would call her students to order and begin the day’s lesson.
Read moreAmericans by Choice: Giving Thanks for Family Near and Far
Coming to the United States from Afghanistan is not an easy move. But for Haseena Niazi, it only took until November 23 – and her first bite of turkey – for her to realize it wouldn’t be so bad.
To Haseena, her family is everything. She remembers as a child – she’s the youngest of 12 – sitting around the dinner table, listening to her siblings’ tales from school and her father’s from his office. Even though she was too young to add her own stories, she still enjoyed hearing theirs.
On November 23, a mere three months after her move from Kabul to the U.S., she found herself sitting around a different dining room table – this time with her newfound American family – celebrating Thanksgiving.
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