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‘Fatima Akbari—A tale of self-reliance, heroism and success’

“When widowhood becomes a hindrance and a weakness, Fatima turned it into her success, ironed her challenges out. These days she epitomizes courage, heroism and service to women”

Farhad Naibkhel

KABUL: Afghanistan is a country where women folk have been badly hit by wars and violence. On one side if the bloodshed has left them homeless and widowed on the other it has left them prone to economic miseries and challenges. However, Fatema Akbari, stands for an emblem of patience, iron, courage and success as despite the fact that she is a widow yet she is the owner of Woman Initiative Carpentry Company, a furniture manufacturing business in 13th district in Kabul.

The carpentry company was founded in 2003 which now encompasses over 80 employees with mostly Afghan women.

Living in a conservative and traditional society, Fatema Akbari succeeded to overcome scores of challenges and made herself to run a carpentry factory in west of Kabul, which now has become a training centre and puts its share in women empowerment.

When civil war erupted, the financial position of her Fatima Akbari’s family steeped, and when Taliban came into power, they had no other choice but to immigrate to Iran where she lived for ten years. With carpentry experience in hands, she returned home in 2003, and established carpentry company.

“I learnt this skill when I was 24; since then I have nursed a desire to establish a carpentry company in Afghanistan to enable widows like me to live respectively by fighting economic challenges, and now I am quite happy to see my dream being translated into reality,” she told Afghanistan Times.
Fatema, who is now 42, said that she started learning carpentry in a factory named Bozorg Manish Carpentry Factory in Tehran where she had to work among men employees however the owner of the company was a woman.

“It has been a major challenge to me to work among male colleagues; nevertheless it instigated a spirit into that enabled me to make the hardships and troubles as stairs for success,” Fatima recalled.

“I remember well the day when I first entered the factory for learning. The workers around me were not women rather I found myself landed among men that made me cautious how to work. Initially they looked at me with devouring eyes but after a few days when they saw my passion for my profession, they held out respect to me and helped me to take my skills to a new height,” she said.
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Fatima said that within three years of strenuous efforts, she became a skilled carpenter and wanted to open a factory in Iran, since being an Afghan citizen it is quite difficult job to get license for running a business therefore she had ask for a helping hand from her boss-lady to help her in establishing a factory in Tehran.
She added that thus with a helping hand from the owner of Bozorg Manish Company she succeeded in opening a carpentry factory under the name of Sadaf in 1994, Tehran.

Mis Akbari was financially supported by her bosslady and some Afghans during establishing of the factory, where after few months working she repaid their monies.

“After establishing the factory my employees were mostly men, but slowly I trained Afghan women and gradually our women employees increased in the factory and we had gained enough income via our products in Tehran,” she added happily.

Running her wood manufacturing business for nine years in Tehran, ultimately she had to shift her works and factory to Afghanistan in 2003 when the Taliban’s regime was already toppled and replaced by a democratic government.
Fatima reconnected the whole episode and said that when she established her factory in Kabul, she had to face a new series of challenges especially in hiring employees particularly women.
“Being struck with a new challenge posed by conservative men, my business broke donw for a short time whereas I had to resuscitate my business with a new vigor,” she said.
�“ It was a head-reeling moment for me as many men workers refused to work with me while getting skilled women workers had become a distant dream, so I had to begin my business with cooperation from my family members—two sons and a daughter,” she revealed her business ordeals.
She started off her business in 13th Jurisdiction of Kabul city.
Initially Fatema Akbri run her business with her family, but slowly she set up food process, tailoring, literacy, computer, carpentry and holy Quran training for needy and widows in her factory, where finally she found the fortune to gain people’s trust and confidence in the area and they let their daughters and wives to work with Miss Akbari in the factory.�
Since the establishment of the factory, more or less 2000 women have been provided with training in different fields.

According to Fatema Akbari the graduated trainee are being hired by the factory or provided with raw material and market opportunity.

She said that in hiring workers, women get top priority especially those women whose husbands have either been killed or disabled in the war, because she is passionate about helping women gain employment and secure their lives.

Currently over 80 women are working part time in the factory, where each gain 5000 afs monthly.
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Besides supporting her family, Fatima Akbari mostly spent the factory income over literacy and other vocational training for widows and poor women of the area.

She said that her factory has not received any support or donation from in or outside the country. She criticized the government to buying foreign products while letting down domestic products; though the prices of local products are quite reasonable.

She mentioned that by hiring widows and needy women in the factory or for training, she want to give them a respectable position to them in this male-dominated society.
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Its pertinen to mentioned that Fatima Akbari along with her daughter Shahla were accepted into the Bpeace Fast Runner three-year program of the United States in 2010, where this incredible program gave Fatima and Shahla the opportunity to be matched with Bpeace volunteer business professionals who are committed to mentor and guide the Afghan entrepreneurs for three years and granted with $2000 cash as prize by the program. Earlier the entrepreneur was established under the name of Gulistan-e-Sadaqat, but recently she changed its name to Women Initiative Factory.��

Fatima Akbari shares her massage to those women who refused to work in the society because of male dominance and some conservative traditions and beliefs.
However she is of the opinion that every Afghan woman has especial talents and capability thus is necessary for women to take part in different fields to lead their people and country toward self-sufficiency and to overcome violence against women nationwide”.�
Zahra 45 a widow woman told Afghanistan Times that she has been working working in this carpentry factory since 2009, where she has learnt different arts and currently handle her family expenditure through her products.
�She voiced her pleasure over running of training program and hiring of women by the factory and called it a place, where poor and needy women get opportunity to take growth and empowerment.
In Afghanistan, a conservative society being ruled by male dominance, some widows usually end up as beggars on the streets, but Fatima wanted to challenge that miserable lifestyle. She not only secured a good economic status, respectable position for herself and family but she provides widow women an opportunity to work in womanly atmosphere to earn livelihood in a legal and respective manner for away from sexual harassment in streets and other abuses. The need is to encourage such women who are desperate to give Afghan women especially widows their right and deserved status, which ultimately will control street beggary and would give them an honorable position. Self-reliance and trust, of course is an honorable way to live, Fatima Akbari has proved it with her courage and willpower.