Displaying Archive for the ‘social programs’ Category

Wear Peace Proudly

Connie K. Duckworth / December 9th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghanistan families, economic sustainability, social investment, social programs, sustainable economic development / 4 comments

I’ve been running somewhat silent on STIR blog these past two months due to a particularly high level of activity across all fronts in Afghanistan that’s kept me running full throttle. There’s much to catch up on.

First and foremost, I am delighted to announce the launch of Peace Cord™, a new artisan “product with purpose” available now in time for the holidays, selling online for $10 and $15, and providing 150 additional jobs for women in rural Afghanistan.

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Water Filters: Benefiting ARZU Families and the Local Community

admin / September 30th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghanistan families, social programs, sustainable environment / no comments

In partnership with DACAAR, a Kabul-based NGO, ARZU initiated a water-filtration system production pilot program to train apprentices in this trade. You can read the specifics behind the initiation of this program in the past STIR blog post, “Afghan Women Hard at Work.”

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Afghan Women Hard at Work

Connie K. Duckworth / September 7th, 2010 / posted in afghan women, economic sustainability, social business enterprise, social programs, sustainable economic development / 1 comment

Yesterday was Labor Day – a time to celebrate and reflect upon the achievement of workers. It’s the perfect time to take stock in several micro-businesses that ARZU seeded earlier this summer. Each of these new enterprises shares the same overarching objective: to create sustainable jobs for rural Afghan women at fair wages through the sales of their products. That’s the ARZU STUDIO HOPE economic model for rugs in a nutshell, simply recast into new innovative applications.

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“That which does not destroy, strengthens.”

Connie K. Duckworth / September 2nd, 2010 / posted in afghan women, afghanistan families, social programs, social responsibility / no comments

- Friedrich Nietzsche

What is amazing about Afghan women is that they are still standing after all they’ve seen and experienced. With a life expectancy of 44 years, life is short and harsh. Yet, despite the daily hardships of grinding poverty and insecurity, they have a resiliency of spirit that inspires me every day.

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Common Sense Is Not Common

Connie K. Duckworth / July 12th, 2010 / posted in social change, social programs, social responsibility, sustainable economic development / no comments

When I read about colossal development missteps, like the $104 million sewage system in Falluja, Iraq, funded for five years but never finished, that we’re walking away from, I can hear my mother’s voice reciting the litany of common sense truisms that I now try to drum into my children’s brains:

It’s quality, not quantity that counts.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Good things come in small packages.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better.
(I’m sure you can add to the list.)

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A Ride on the “*hitter” and a Serendipitous Idea

Connie K. Duckworth / July 6th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, social change, social programs / 1 comment

According to the Oxford English Dictionary “serendipity” means: “the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way, as in “a fortunate stroke of serendipity; a series of small serendipities.” Horace Walpole coined the term in 1754 from the title of a fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip, where the heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.” Flying back to Camp Leatherneck on a helicopter known as the “*hitter” because the ceiling pipes continually leak hydraulic fluid, I was once again struck by how much of a role serendipity has played in building ARZU STUDIO HOPE.

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Now, back to Helmand Province…

Connie K. Duckworth / July 1st, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghanistan women, economic sustainability, social programs, sustainability strategy / no comments

My first impression of this part of Afghanistan can be summed up in two words: heat and sand. June daytime highs are around 110 F, although the evenings cool off to a comfortable 90 F. The landscape is monochromatic beige, as far as the eye can see. The ground is beige, the mud household compounds we fly over in helicopters are beige, and when the sandstorms start to blow, even the air is beige.

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Operation Magic Carpet Ride

Connie K. Duckworth / June 21st, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghan women, economic sustainability, opportunity, social programs, sustainable economic development / 3 comments

If my blog has been conspicuous by its absence for the last ten days, at least I have a good excuse. I’ve been in Afghanistan – at Camp Leatherneck, Northern Helmand Province to be precise – at the invitation of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Needless to say, it’s been a once in a lifetime experience.

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Yes, Virginia. There Really Is Progress.

Connie K. Duckworth / June 3rd, 2010 / posted in afghan women, afghanistan families, social investment, social programs, sustainable community / 1 comment

Despite the all too many cases of subjugation and abuse, I believe in the possibility of change in the lives of women in Afghanistan. Although we may not “see it in The Sun,” it is exists – small signs of hope emerge every day. An illiterate woman learns to read; a child goes to school; a pregnant mother delivers a healthy baby; an unskilled man learns a trade. While, individually, none of these move mountains, taken together, they make a mountain. This week, opening day at the Laundromat was one of these small steps forward.

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For the Country to Work, Everday Afghans Need Work

Connie K. Duckworth / May 17th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghan women, economic sustainability, opportunity, social change, social programs, sustainable economic development / 1 comment

I founded ARZU STUDIO HOPE after a single visit to Afghanistan. I had no experience in the field of “International development,” no political agenda, and no special expertise. What I did have was some common sense and a firmly held point of view that a job is the universal enabler of hope for a better future. What I have come to understand is that it is also the universal equalizer in a civil society. I have come to see the right to work for one’s living as a basic human right.

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