Support vulnerable families in rural Afghanistan

Bibi Hawa has always worked hard to improve the lives of her loved ones. With her husband and son both living with disabilities, she has been the sole provider for her household for decades. Thankfully, her skills as a talented tailor had always enabled her to make ends meet, and she was even able to buy a home for her son, who needed special accommodation due to his blindness.

Unfortunately, following the change of power in August 2021 and the ensuing economic crisis, Bibi Hawa’s once-reliable income decreased significantly, until her small business eventually went bankrupt. This forced her to sell all of her equipment. Left without a source of income to feed her family and unable to afford basic necessities, she wondered how she would recover all that she had lost to enable her to thrive once more.

When Afghanaid visited Bibi Hawa’s local area, she immediately notified the team that she required support. Enrolling on a new Afghanaid project which supports rural women to strengthen and diversify their livelihoods, Bibi Hawa received a sewing machine, sewing accessories, a sewing table, scissors, fabric, yarn, and an iron. Equipped with the tools she needed to restart her tailoring business, she eagerly set to work to rebuild her customer base.

With Afghanaid's support, and her own expertise and resilience, Bibi Hawa was able to grow her small business back to what it once was, and also began bestowing her tailoring wisdom upon her daughter, setting her up with skills for the future.

Across Afghanistan, when one woman is supported to flourish, whole families and communities also benefit. This is because these powerful agents of change cascade their newfound knowledge and share their resources with others, uplifting other women in their community to grow and succeed.

Bibi Hawa told our team how overjoyed she is with her newfound success, explaining how she has turned her dream into a reality. "Special thanks to the Afghanaid office for supporting me."

Thanks to your support, this year we will be able to work alongside many more resilient and talented women like Bibi Hawa to ensure they can recover from the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan and fulfill their ambitions.