How do you think women survived under the Taliban? How do you think Taliban would react to a woman entrepreneur?
Despite what you may think, there were women who succeeded despite the many barriers and restrictions in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Some women not only made a living for themselves, but also created jobs for many others. How? Just read about the Dressmaker of Khair Khana.
Several years ago, I met a person who had a somewhat unconventional take on women and their role in rebuilding countries after conflict. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon saw women not just as victims; not as simply individuals in need of help, but as a powerful force for change and development. Through her work in Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Bosnia – she saw first hand how women entrepreneurs, despite the odds, are changing the world.
I tried to keep in touch with Gayle over the years. While working in what seemed to be several jobs simultaneously and the never-ending travels, she continued to look for ways to get the world to see women entrepreneurs as she has seen them: powerful and inspiring. And now we all have a chance to do so – as her book, the Dressmaker of Khair Khana, is about to hit the shelves.
Summed up in her own words in the introduction, the book is about ” a young woman who believed with all her heart that by starting her own business and helping other women to do the same, she could help save her long-troubled country.”
The Publisher’s Weekly already named her book a Pick of the Week! Christian Science Monitor names it one of the 15 books to look out for in early 2011. From the Publisher’s Weekly book review:
In 2005, Lemmon went to Afghanistan on assignment for the Financial Times to write about women entrepreneurs. When she met a dressmaker named Kamila Sediqi, Lemmon (once a producer for This Week with George Stephanopolos) knew she had her story. It’s an exciting, engrossing one that reads like a novel, complete with moments of tension and triumph, plus well-researched detail on daily life in Kabul under Taliban rule. When that regime descended in 1996, it brought fear, violence, and restrictions: women must stay home, may not work, and must wear the chadri—a cloak, also known as a burqa, that covers the face and body—in public. After Sediqi’s parents left the city to avoid being pressed into service, or worse, by the Taliban, it fell to her to support the family. Her story is at once familiar (she came up with an idea, procured clients, hired student workers, and learned as she went) and wholly different (she couldn’t go anywhere without a male escort, had to use an assumed name with customers due to the threat of being found out and punished, and could fit in work on the sewing machine only when there was electricity). It’s a fascinating story that touches on family, gender, business, and politics and offers inspiration through the resourceful, determined woman at its heart.
I had a chance to ask Gayle a few questions about the book and her view of the role of women in development.
What is the main message of your book?
The main idea of the book is that women are more than just victims to be pitied; they are survivors to be respected and economic actors worthy of investment. We are so used to seeing women as victims that we often overlook their power as entrepreneurs to pull families through conflict and upheaval. These young women turned to entrepreneurship when the Taliban’s rules made everything else impossible, and they created a lifeline for families in their neighborhood at a time when women weren’t even supposed to be on the streets.
What compelled you to write it?
In 2005 I was writing a piece about Afghan women entrepreneurs for the Financial Times, and I met this savvy young businesswoman then launching her third start-up. I asked her how she knew so much about business plans and marketing, and she told me, “Oh, I had an excellent business during the Taliban — that business did a lot of good for my community.” Right then and there I was hooked — I, like most people, had no idea that women had even worked during the Taliban, let alone become entrepreneurs. I started asking more questions, and the more I learned, the more I became determined to share this story about war, family, perseverance and the power of business to transform people’s lives at even the most difficult of times.
In your travels in Afghanistan and other conflict areas around the world – what are the greatest barriers to women’s empowerment and participation that you’ve encountered?
The business environment is an enormous barrier in conflict areas, particularly in landlocked countries where nearly every input must be imported. Specific to women, I think the three biggest issues are: 1) access to capital; 2) access to networks; and 3) access to markets. These issues affect men as well, but because women tend to be out of the business mainstream, all three tend to be more difficult for women.
How do you think we can overcome those barriers? What needs to be done?
Two big things come to mind: 1) female-focused financial products to assist and enable small- and medium-enterprise lending. This can be done through effective loan guarantee programs, as well as the creation of financial products which have lower collateral requirements and longer repayment periods. And 2) access to markets can be addressed by assisting in market assessment for the local market and online or in-person matchmaking between international firms and women-owned firms in conflict areas. Organizations like Bpeace and 10000 Women are working on addressing pieces of these barriers, but there is much more to be done.
What is the role of women (entrepreneurs) in conflict areas?
Women entrepreneurs matter for three reasons: 1) they are the population you have left during and after conflict; 2) they are often left to lead households on their own for the first time after war; 3) if you can get money to women, that money will get to children, and this means that both boys AND girls will have an opportunity for education. I have seen this over and over again during the past five years in reporting on women entrepreneurs in war zones: women who earn incomes change the family dynamic and they make it easier to get the next generation of boys and girls educated.
What about the importance of having positive stories of what women can do to lead their countries out of conflict/war?
Each day all around the world women start businesses to get their families through conflict. Until recently the international community has overlooked their stories of triumph and hope, and women have done this work on their own, with no attention and even less support. Women are allies in the fight to build more stable communities globally and until we view them as such we will not direct the resources needed to enable them to make even greater economic contributions to their families, their communities and their countries. And that is in everyone’s interest.
Published Date: January 20, 2011