The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.

Roqia, a 22 year old business woman from Kabul, Afghanistan, has the “vision” to go far in the Afghan business world.

Roqia, who spent the majority of her childhood and adolescence in Iran during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, has started her own financial consulting services company and is excelling to new heights with it. The Afghan Vision Company, is specializes in preparing company’s annual financial statements and their tax forms.

Roqia has never run a business before and is running into occasional troubles here and there, but for the most part she is doing just fine, citing her desire to learn as her reason for motivation.

Another source of inspiration for Roqia is the constant progression of women in Afghan society. She feels that this is one of the chief motivators in having a successful business.

“I know that I will face a lot of problems in running my business because I am a young woman and Afghan people don’t want to believe in women’s abilities, but I am my own boss [now] and I want to show them that a girl, a woman can work as a man in Afghan society.”

Manizha, a 23 year old businesswoman from Kabul, Afghanistan, is well versed in the philosophies of Peace through Business, having been involved with it since its inception in 2007. But this time around she plans to put her time towards her newest project, a confectionary shop.

Originally, Manizha sought out with the dream to start he own business consultancy. After educating herself in the likes of marketing, commercial law, and managerial behavior, Manizha started Look Business Consultancy.

It was during this period, along with her stint working with several foreign government agencies, that she realized how hard it was for a woman to succeed in the workplace.

“Working outside is not an easy job for an Afghan girl in Afghan society because a working lady, especially at this moment with international organizations, is not considered a good woman.”

Despite this, Manizha has continued to stay focused and has not lost sight of what’s important.

Currently, she is working on starting a confectionary shop called the Sweet Castle. It has always been her dream to run one, but limitations on her time have constrained her from doing so.

But recently she has been presented with an opportunity to move on the Sweet Castle idea and she is taking it. She will use her time in the United States to sharpen and hone her business plan accordingly.

Manizha has also aided in the opening of her father’s private health clinic and her elder sister’s all female market.

Even though Manizha has already been to the United States with the Peace through Business program, she still feels that this trip will be more beneficial than ever.

“These last two years of experience have helped me grow my self-confidence and have empowered me to start my business in terms of getting the know-how and practical experience. And I think this year will again be enriching.”

Mariam, a 31 year old businesswoman from Kabul, Afghanistan, is reaching new heights in the business world despite being dispelled from her home for many years.

Mariam, a refugee for 6 years during the Taliban’s rule, now owns and operated Mariam Handy Crafts and has started the business association known as Mariam Education and Cultural Association (MECA).

Miriam’s business specializes in training women in sewing, literacy, and tailoring. She has currently trained over 370 women and often supplies the Women’s Garden District with raw materials for them to make hand crafts with.

On her upcoming trip to the United States, Mariam is most excited about learning how American businesswomen operate in hopes that Afghanistan can one day follow suit.

Lydie owns a book store that sells both new and used books. She stresses that the reading culture in Rwanda is still low, and that most Rwandans say that books are expensive. But that hasn’t stopped her from going against all odds.

Lydie notes that as a woman business owner, mother and wife, the work/family life balance is always a challenge, but she is grateful for the support she receives from her husband.

Lydie is eager to develop relationships with potential book suppliers during her visit to the United States. Her overall goal is to develop libraries in schools and hospitals where children would have access to books for free.

Though the genocide caused her to be raised outside of Rwanda for most of her life, Lydie has fallen in love with Rwanda and says there’s no place she would rather be.

“There are still many problems (in Rwanda), but I now see them as opportunities wehre entrepreneurs like me can thrive and rebuild the country.”

At her bookstore, she is the exclusive distributor for brand names like Longman, Heinemann and Penguin. Lydie is currently working a project to collect used books to distribute to schools and students who are in need. She has already collected 500 books from Belgium donors.

“I hope this will be a life changing experience; it will allow me to learn best practices in my industry and give me an opportunity to network and develop long lasting relationships with successful American business owners,” Lydie said.

Deborah owns and operates Generations Impact, where she trains orphans and former sex workers to be job creators through handcrafting jewelry and wall hangings. One of her goals is to add tannery products to her business.

She is looking forward to her time in the U.S. to not only help her, but also to help her students gain a better perspective to business and the relationship to the customers and better approaches to business.

Deborah comes from a family of 12 brothers and sisters.

Upon reflection of what her country has been through, Deborah was inspired to help rebuild her country and to help prevent another genocide from every recurring. She was so disheartened by the number of orphans the war left her country, so Generations Impact was born. It would be a way to establish a new beginning for future generations.

“I believe the Impact I will have from this experience will last as long as am alive!” Deborah said.

Keza owns an International Travel Agency (ITA) that provides air tickets for all over the world and packages to Mombasa, Zanzibar, in the Southern area. She is the President of IATA Travel Agencies in Kigali, Rwanda.

Keza has received an award from Kenya Airways and Brussels Airlines for exceeding the objectives on sales. She loves traveling in order to create a network outside the country. Keza is eager to learn more about being a good manager and increase her skills in leadership and business growth.

The travel industry runs in Keza’s family, as her mother owns a travel agency as well. Although Keza’s formal education centered on biochemistry, she has fallen in love with her business. When she first took over one of her mother’s agencies, she completely reorganized the business in order to in order to give her customers utmost service.

“I am excited to come to USA and meet people who are doing the same business as me and to see if I am on the right track, to exchange ideas, to network with other women,” Keza said.

Keza admits that she doesn’t delegate enough, and through the In-Country Education, she learned how important it is to delegate. She is now able to spend more time at home. She has also noticed that her employees are happier because they have more responsibilities and can see that she trusts them.

Keza is excited to share her experience in the U.S. with other business women in Rwanda in order to build a better country and to stop poverty.

Anne’s business is Rwanda Energy and Environment Solutions.

Through her business she teaches the community better ways of land use, management, and ways to control soil erosion. Projects include planting trees and building terraces.

Anne also owns a catering company called Events Solutions. She mostly caters to the two universities in Rwanda.

Anne is eager to learn about how to open a hotel that offers catering and has an event center.

Sarah owns Shema Farm, which is about 24 hectares. She is involved in a number of projects including dairy farming, fruit and vegetable growing, as well as chicken rearing.

Sarah owns about 75 cows and produces an average of 600 liters of milk per day. She sells her milk to three dairy outlets, which in turn sells the milk to consumers in raw form. Her fruit and vegetable growing currently includes oranges, pineapples and macadamia nuts and tomatoes. Her goal is to begin selling her fruits to markets by 2010.

She currently has three greenhouses and she produces about 1,000 eggs per day from chickens.

Sarah’s farm began as a side project, but as her business has continued to grow, she had to resign from her full-time job in order to effective manage the farm and its growth.

“I believe this training will provide a unique opportunity for me to learn new skills,
which will empower me to be efficient in my business,” Sarah said. “In addition, the cross culture interaction with other women business entrepreneurs will be a wonderful opportunity to share knowledge, experiences and exposure.

Sarah is also dedicated to improving her community. Since she is a dairy farmer she has no need for bulls when they are born, she simply gives them away to people in her community.

Marlene owns and operates an ice cream shop called UNIK. She import ice creams from South Africa and Kenya, but she is now looking to create the ice cream in house.

Before entering into the ice cream business, Marlene worked in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for five years. But her dreams led her to open her own business, and hers was the first ice cream shop in her area.
Her goals include acquiring the necessary equipment to make the ice cream herself instead of importing it.

Marlene is also eager to be mentored in the area of balancing her work and family life as a mother.

Marlene has not only overcome challenges in her business life, but also her personal life. She and her husband are both cancer survivors.

“The experience will hopefully make me a better entrepreneur who is successful and able to play her roles as a good citizen contributing to national development, having a happy family and inspiring other women,” Marlene said.

Eron is a former student from the 2008 PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS class. She was selected as the facilitator for the 2009 In-Country class and will accompany the Rwandan students to the US for additional training and mentorship.

Her business is a hardware store called Kabs-Hardware Shop Ltd. Eron plans to expand her business to include wholesale and increase the number of locations on the outskirts of Kigali City. Her plan for 5 years and beyond is to become involved in import substitution and minor manufacturing.