Trade and peace

It's tough to kill the entrepreneurial spirit, though the Taliban in Afghanistan sure gave it a good try before 2001. Project Artemis, hosted by the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, hosts Afghan women for an intensive two-week business skills course.

Matthew Hilburn, reporting for Voice of America, describes a woman who ran a secret honey-making business during the Taliban era. Women entering the program run businesses for embroidery and saffron. Hilburn writes: "While Afghan businesswomen still have many hurdles to overcome - they still may need to rely on men for many external dealings such as negotiations and making deliveries - Artemis is making progress toward changing how women are viewed by society at large.

Artemis pairs the entrepreneurs with mentors. Check out the stories on their site - again, they are inspiring. The project operates in other countries, too, including Peru, Jordan and Pakistan.

Secrecy and saffron are part of the plot of Fear of Beauty. Trade, business, a sense of purpose provide security and stability for communities.

Photo of Afghan woman weaving carpet courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and US Marine Corps.  

Patience

Atiq Rahimai wrote the book and directed the film, and Tracy McNicoll writes about the director of The Patient Stone for Newsweek:

"I was tired of always seeing the same discourse on Afghan women, as submissive, as victims," Rahimai says.... "When I go to Afghanistan, I meet women of extraordinary might. they have a presence, socially, politically, culturally speaking.... Even in Parliament, it is the women who call out all the war criminals."

Women must evade the control from others to avoid being victims. That often requires keeping secrets and hiding achievements.

The film will come to the United States this summer.