Here’s a slightly late, but I believe wholly appropriate, nod to International Womens Day: the Women of Hope Project.
“The Women of Hope Project is an organization by women for women to restore hope and dignity to women who have been oppressed and denied personal freedom, health, opportunity, and respect. We hope to create a sisterhood to encourage and provide resources to help these women recover from the traumatic devastation of 23 years of war.”
Sound a little too touchy-feely for us? You might think again, because I have seen the WoHP at work in Kabul, and I think it is one of the best NGOs on deck today, and also one of the most effective movements for positive change. If we want a stable, prosperous, functional Afghanistan, it will be organizations like Betsy’s WoHP that effect the change, one family at a time. I used to chat with her every friday morning at the Camp Eggers bazaar, and became deeply impressed with how much she has done, starting from scratch.
“With the airline industry in limbo, Betsy took a year’s leave and made a trip to Afghanistan. She saw the plight of thousands of women and children who were left to fend for themselves in a male dominated society that was bereft of able bodied men to take care of them after 25 years of war. While she returned several times with donations to help the women, she knew that this was not going to fix the long term problem of helping the women to learn to support themselves. After many prayers and sleepless nights trying to figure out what to do, Betsy hit upon an idea that she thought might solve their problem. …”
One of their signature projects is the bottle burqa, which is a great triple-poke in the eye for the Taliban. The folks at GOP Counterculture blogged about the one I sent to them– yes, I’m the “good friend just returned from Afghanistan”, and Mudville picked it up too:
Of course, this isn’t the only thing they make and it’s really a small part of their offerings, but it appeals to my sense of humor and defiance. Folks, if we want to win the campaign in Afghanistan and help them (re)build their nation, we will need to support organizations like WoHP. Betsy is doing things no military or governmental agency has done or can do. Visit her site, and give a little to the very best of causes.
