Be a Helping Hand
WIDOW SKILLS TRAINING
Help us look after innocent women left without an income or family support, after the death of a husband. Help us give them the skills, knowledge and training they need to find work and earn a living.
Our training centre for women in Kabul is a groundbreaking new initiative for Afghan widows.
57% of girls in Afghanistan are married before the age of 16. The majority of child brides are not schooled or trained for vocational work outside of the family home.
In fact, 80% of Afghan women cannot read or write and only 25% are employed, compared to 88% of Afghan men.
Most Afghan women are entirely dependent on their fathers and husbands for their economic well being, and have nowhere to turn when their male relatives are unable to provide for them.
Afghanistan has one of the highest number of widows in the world; official estimates suggest 1.5 million.
The average age of an Afghan widow is 35 years, and about 90% of Afghan widows also have an average of four or more children to support.
Although there is more work available in urban areas than rural areas, there are not many job opportunities for unskilled women; most widows therefore end up doing menial work, begging or entering into prostitution to support themselves and their young families.
A large number of widows also attempt suicide because they are unable to cope with their circumstances.
Aryana Aid has been supporting widows at its training centre in Kabul.
Our centre gives widows the skills that they need to find semi-skilled work or to set up micro businesses. We also provides advice about avoiding exploitation from dishonest employers and customers.
600 women aged between 20 and 45 years are currently enrolled onto our free classes taught by our salaried teachers.
Read Ameena’s story in her own words translated from Dari:
‘I am a widow, and I have five daughters and three sons who depend on me for everything since my husband passed away.
‘The situation in Afghanistan is very bad, and the recession has made things worse as there are fewer jobs now than there were before.
‘Although there is some support available for women like me, the agencies were unable to help me when I approached them; I felt that they didn’t really care about me because of the huge number of other cases that they had to deal, with and I became very depressed and anxious about my children.
‘Things started to change when I was offered a place at the Aryana Aid training centre.
'The charity is helping me develop new skills so that I can find work, and it is also helping my children who now go to school.
‘I enjoy going to the centre and feel more secure about my future and the future of my children’.
By donating £420 or £35 per month over 12 months, you can help a widow like Ameena get the skills that she needs to look after herself and her family.