Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Peggy (along with Sue from New Zealand) mentors Mahbooba.
From Business Week: "For 20 years, despite the restrictions and danger of punishment, Mahboba, 48, worked with other women in Kabul and Mazar al-Sharif, establishing a cooperative to develop and promote women-made handicrafts. While her husband and children fled to Pakistan, she remained in Afghanistan. It was important to her; she says to help other women. She saw great success before the Taliban took over and secretly worked with women during their rule. "I've always helped other women to learn about business." Having worked in a number of cottage industries and having aided women in various capacities to help them earn a living, Mahboba discovered that there are areas which need to be addressed if women are to become fully integrated members of business society and to advance. In a country barely out of the veil, women still do not travel freely without male relatives. This puts a limit on the ability of female entrepreneurs to conduct business. Mahboba's current goal is to open a chain of women's guesthouses across the country. "Many women travel," she says. "I want them to be in a comfortable place." Among the amenities at her guesthouses, she plans to install Internet access, beauty parlors, libraries, and an all-women's gym. "Even women who aren't staying there can use the gym two times a week."
