A small revolution

If World Vision’s message of work for women is surprising, the reaction to it could be considered astounding. Not just women, but men, seem to be all for it. Local villages are buzzing. In fact, as a World Vision 4WD vehicle slowly lurched through the thick mud of Ab Kamari district recently, a man eagerly flagged down the driver.

“Could you please add my wife to your list of workers?” he asked hopefully.

The Women’s Association of Badghis Province, which is back in business after being shut down during six years of Taliban rule, has contracted with World Vision to find willing women workers. Mahlia, an engineer and the president of the Association, has high hopes for the project.

“Women here want to work, but they are used to working only inside the home,” she explains. “They make carpets or sew something. But we want to help them change, to do something different and be better than before.”

Badghis is one of the poorest provinces in western Afghanistan. Most families have struggled to survive as a three-year drought devastated their crops, stripped them of their livelihoods and shattered their every means of coping. Most families ended up selling their animals and everything else of value, and have just begun to get back on their feet. Until this summer’s harvest comes through in July, Badghis families will be desperate for money to buy food and other necessities.

More than 1,100 Badghis men have already been working on World Vision road rehabilitation projects. The project was conceived as a way to provide more cash for Badghis families while creating assets for communities, such as better roads and crop irrigation. Some of the area’s most vulnerable women – widows who head households – will be targeted to benefit from the project.

Wages are excellent by Afghan standards. While a carpet that takes two women two months to weave typically earns each woman about $10, women who work for World Vision will earn more than eight times that much – or about $1.50 a day each. “They can help their families a lot with this money,” says Mahlia.

Given local circumstances, it makes sense to hire women as well as men, says Manoel Noronha, head of World Vision Afghanistan’s Infrastructure sector, which is responsible primarily for building and rehabilitating roads and schools.

“In our projects that need workers, we always want to hire people from the communities we work with. We want to give them the chance to help themselves and their families,” he says. “We’ve hired the men. Why not hire the women? They are strong and willing to work. They can do more than just make carpets.”

Because Afghanistan is such a highly patriarchal society, World Vision decided it would be best to first approach the village men about the idea of their wives and daughters working. This was done through dozens of World Vision Village Organisations formed last fall throughout Badghis Province. Manoel says their reaction surprised him.

“They were eager to talk to us. They seemed intrigued by the idea that their wives and daughters could have jobs,” he said. “We will communicate with them closely throughout the project to make sure that they are happy with what is happening.”

For the women attending the planning meeting, though, that question seems to be already settled. As they listened to their new possibilities, the women’s eyes shone with excitement.

“Do you want to show that you can work as hard and as well as the men?” came the question.

The answer: a resounding shout of “Bah-lay!” – yes. And though no wages had been paid yet, each woman left with a sign-up bonus: a strong new sense of her own worth.