Ferishta: A Voice from Afghanistan

Seven out of 10 hungry people worldwide are women. Given that women are the primary caretakers of children, helping women out of hunger and poverty means helping kids, too.

Ferishta, an Afghan woman living in Mazar-e Sharif, is keeping herself and her 20 employees (and their children) from hunger and poverty with her soccer ball manufacturing business.

"You know that in Afghanistan sometimes people think that it's very difficult, especially for women, to do anything," said Ferishta, "and I also had the same idea, but after starting my own business I feel so much happier."

In fact, Ferishta's company is one of a growing number of women-owned businesses in Afghanistan. According to the New York Times:

Less than a decade after being banned from schools and offices by the Taliban government, Afghan women are helping to create a next generation of entrepreneurs determined to support their families and give a boost to their nation’s economy. In a desperately poor country in which unemployment estimates top 40 percent, the jobs they create make a difference.

 Here's to Ferishta and other Afghan women like her.

 This story is part of our Wednesday ViewChange video series.