Displaying Posts Tagged ‘afghan people’

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

Connie K. Duckworth / January 12th, 2011 / posted in afghan people, business social responsibility, economic sustainability, opportunity, social change, social investment / 1 comment

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

– Albert Einstein

Everyone I know personally or professionally shares a singular perspective—how glad we are to see 2010 in the rear view mirror. The past two years, in fact, have been exhausting on every front—economically, politically, globally—and our collective fatigue level is high. It’s hard to run life unceasingly at DEFCON 2. At the same time, there’s an innate optimism that comes with flipping to the blank slate of a new calendar year. It refreshes our spirits, revives our energy, stiffens our resolve and restores our hope for positive change.

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Empowering Women, Empowering Their Children

admin / October 7th, 2010 / posted in afghan women, afghanistan families, economic sustainability, events, opportunity, social responsibility / no comments

With Child Health Day on Monday and U.S. National Children’s Day coming up this Sunday, October is a month dedicated to improving the lives of children in our global community.

At ARZU STUDIO HOPE, our mission is to empower women weavers in Afghanistan; and by doing so, we also strive to help their families. As the saying goes, “Educate a woman and you educate a family.” ARZU believes in this statement, with education being a main priority.

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Don’t Count Out the Afghan Voters Yet

Connie K. Duckworth / September 13th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, events, social change, social responsibility / no comments

With the Afghan Parliamentary elections less than a week away on 9/18, like clockwork, the naysayers are out in force talking them down. At the top of the list is the Taliban with its particular election messaging. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid is quoted as saying:

“We urge people not to participate in the election. Everything and everyone affiliated with the election is our target — candidates, security forces, campaigners, election workers, voters are all our targets.”

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Our Shared Experience

Connie K. Duckworth / August 30th, 2010 / posted in events, people / no comments

We are now halfway through Ramadan, which began this year on August 11 and ends on September 10 with the festival of Eid ul-Fitr. If you are like me and grew up as a non-Muslim American with virtually no exposure to Islam, chances are you may be unfamiliar with this important religious faith tradition.

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Would You Drink River Water?

Connie K. Duckworth / July 29th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, afghan women, sustainable community, sustainable economic development, sustainable environment / 1 comment

Given our national obsession with bottled water over tap, I somehow think that the answer for most of us would be a resounding “no.” But for billions of people, the question is not particularly relevant. They simply have no other alternatives and it makes them sick, literally.

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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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What Afghans Want

Connie K. Duckworth / June 28th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, economic sustainability, opportunity, social responsibility, sustainable community / 2 comments

This week, the press has been in full “scoop” mode. Since I am not a reporter, a talking head, a think tank expert, an academic, a government employee (whether military, political or civil), or even a “vampire squid,” (although I did spend 20 years at Goldman Sachs), I am certainly insufficiently credentialed to opine on the military or political strategy of how the U.S. and ISAF are prosecuting the war in Afghanistan.

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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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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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Access Envy: They Get to Go Where I Can’t

Connie K. Duckworth / March 26th, 2010 / posted in afghan people, business social responsibility, people, social investment / 1 comment

I like to read books about Afghanistan. The ones I’ve enjoyed most are the first-hand, contemporary accounts of this extraordinary land, rich in descriptive detail of stark beauty and complex tribal ethnicity.

My personal favorite is Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between, the astonishing account of his walking across Afghanistan, from Herat, near the Iranian border, to Kabul in the winter of 2002, just after the fall of the Taliban. I recommend listening to it on audio book, to hear Rory’s own reading of his account. Among his many achievements, Rory is the Founder of Turquoise Mountain Foundation (www.turquoisemountain.org), credited with renovating the only remaining British fort in Kabul and establishing the Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture which teaches talented Afghans ancient techniques in woodworking, calligraphy, ceramics and gem-cutting. A couple of years ago, TMF and ARZU STUDIO HOPE partnered on a joint catalog, with Rory’s art and our rugs shot on site at the Serena Hotel in Kabul.

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