Aryub Jaji District, Afghanistan – July 11, 2009 – *Halima Khan, a 26 year old Afghan woman, has found hope for social and economic freedom through instruction she is receiving in literacy education, gender training and the art of Cherma Dozi which is a traditional form of Afghan embroidery. This capacity training is being offered to Halima, who is 1 of 120 vulnerable women in the Aryub Jaji District of Paktya Province, through a USAID funded Cooperative Agreement awarded to International Relief and Development (IRD) last year to provide support for the Strategic Provincial Roads – Southern and Eastern Afghanistan (SPR-SEA) Program. In a recent interview with Halima, she describes her life in the following words:

“I was married at the age of 14 and I became a widow at 18. I have a daughter who is eleven years old now. My husband died nine years ago in a traffic accident after four years of our marriage. My daughter and I live and work in the home of my in laws since the death of my husband. My father-in-law wants me to marry his younger son who has a wife and children. I do not want to marry his son. All I want is to care for my daughter and provide her with an education. My father-in-law keeps asking me who will provide food and security for me and my daughter and until now, I did not have an answer. I now have hope for the future because of the skills I am learning in this training.”

Mehr Educational and Human Rights Organization (MEHR) is a local NGO who was selected to receive a Community Based Medium Grant to implement the training program in Aryub Jaji District. This is the location of a road rehabilitation project currently being implemented by IRD for USAID, Qasem Khel to Ali Khel to Berkaray in Paktya Province, and the women participating in the training are living within the road corridor ZOI. There are six training centers established in villages along this road alignment. The objective of the training is to empower these women and provide them with the skills to improve their living conditions and generate sustainable income. It is anticipated that the women participating in the training will be able to earn Afg 100 to 150 per day. Each participant will receive a table sewing machine and be presented with a Certificate of Completion at the conclusion of the training.

The classes are approximately 2-1/2 hours long and began on February 9th and will conclude on October 8, 2009. They are offered in three sections; a Literacy Training Course implemented in accordance with the Ministry of Education Literacy Program, a Gender Training designed in accordance with the Ministry for Women’s Affairs guidelines and finally the Cherma Dozi Training.

Halima stated, “I am waiting for the time when I complete my training and I can tell my father-in-law that I can now earn money for myself and my daughter with my new skill of “khayati” (sewing chermas)”.

At the present time, the IRD Community Outreach and Capacity Building Department’s Community Support Program has implemented a total of 79 community based projects in 196 villages within the USAID Strategic Provincial Roads – Southern and Eastern Afghanistan Program Zone of Influence for substantial capacity building in an effort to provide the communities with sustainable employment opportunities and promote support for the road construction effort.

* Halima Khan is a pseudonym given to the young woman for the sake of her personal security.