Flying Scarfs: Making Futures Brighter

Jan. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- A group of Afghan women sit in a room making scarfs to sell to a country whose culture cannot comprehend their hardships.

Joshua Carroll, Joseph Stenger, Jonathan Hudgins and Ryan Bodenheimer are the co-founders of Flying Scarfs. The organization is dedicated to helping the lives of Afghan families who have been affected by war.

“Flying Scarfs grows everyday. We are constantly on the road telling our story. We are in three boutiques and have Internet sales that have topped $35,000 in 2012,” said Carroll. “We have exceeded our own sale's goals. I'm not sure many small businesses can claim that they have exceeded their projections like we can.”

Flying Scarfs employs Afghan women to make handcrafted scarfs to raise money for children’s education and for the financial benefit of the community. All the profits go toward Flying Scarfs. Surplus funds will be donated to the Parwan Balaghil Women’s Handicraft & Agricultural Organization, located in Parwan Province, Afghanistan.
The purchases help provide a stable and improved standard of living for the people - especially women - rooted in the Parwan Province. This may include improvements in the business environment, providing more advanced equipment, and increasing academic opportunities.

“I think people support us because we have credibility as military officers,” said Carroll. “Others support us because of our story, and they have soft spots in their hearts for the plight of Afghan women and their oppressive society. Those who buy fair-trade handicrafts support us for the artisanship.”

About 40 women make scarfs full time, but more than 400 women have worked with Flying Scarfs. A majority of these women are widows who have no social position as a result. Putting the artisans in control of their own finances is better for the family, because many men would keep the money for their own use.  If these children couldn’t go to school, it is likely that they would be begging on the streets.

Carroll describes the cycle of benefits by contributing to Flying Scarfs. In its most basic form, women who earn money through Flying Scarfs are given the power to spend it on their own terms. Earnings pay for their children’s schooling, which helps develop a community of educated citizens. As a result of accessible education, the students are given the tools to build a superior country. This cycle is very complex, but a key ingredient is security, which the U.S. should provide.

“When I wear this scarf, it reminds me that women in Afghanistan live in fear so often,” said Michele Anderson, who bought a scarf in November. “My scarf is a symbol of hope and motivation.”

She displays her scarf so the light brings out the meticulous opaque beading. “You can see how detailed the design is,” said Anderson. “I can tell whoever made this scarf took a long time.”

Each scarf is made of light wool or pashmina fabric. Flying Scarfs emphasizes that every scarf is handmade and any imperfections attest the fact that these are not manufactured. The Flying Scarfs website gives access to the team’s mission, blog, and various ways to donate. To purchase a scarf, the website has a section that includes all the scarfs that are available.

An article in the Wall Street Journal by Maria Abi-Habib illustrates the harsh treatment of women in Afghanistan. She profiles the world that Afghan women encounter daily, where fear of being raped or assaulted is an ongoing concern. Wives can be arrested for reporting sexual abuse to the police if a male chaperone is not present, or if they run away from home. An Afghan man is allowed to strike his wife if she does not abide by him.
While perusing the newspaper or watching TV, the American public is peppered with images of conflict in the Middle East. Pictures of young women after the Taliban threw acid in their faces and of men with blood streaming from their foreheads are images that flood the screens on news broadcasts. Women have been put in jail and even stoned for declaring their right to be educated. Protests in the streets and soldiers in mid-combat seem to be unyielding.

Carroll explains the difficulty of conveying to American consumers that the U.S. is not at war with Afghanistan, because the real fight is against “an ideology of Islamic extremism and terror.” Although the possibility of a revolt could overwhelm the region, the Parwan Province is currently a secure place to do business.

President Barak Obama’s deadline for American withdrawal from the Middle East in 2014 is positive for some, but for others it can mean a scary and unpredictable future.

A staggering 85 percent of Afghan people are in favor of “equal educational opportunities for women,” according to a survey by the Asia Foundation. Also, 79 percent of responders approve of “women being allowed to stand up for their individual rights.”

Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai permits few and limited women’s rights, there is speculation that these liberties may be at risk after the U.S. no longer has a significant presence in the Middle East. Abi-Habib notes that Karzai is receiving contradictory guidance regarding the advancement of women. His hesitation shows that the Afghan government cannot solely carry the responsibility of ameliorating the treatment of women.
Carroll says that the U.S. is partially responsible for improving the future of women and children in Afghanistan. The purpose for invading Afghanistan was to catch the terrorists who plotted the 9/11 attacks. In the process, infrastructure has been destroyed to capture the terrorists. “We said we were going to be liberators,” said Carroll. “Now we must ensure we keep a solid foundation for an end game.”

“Afghanistan has more than 87 percent of all women suffer from domestic abuse,” according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. “Making the country one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman.”

“There's a reason why nobody does business in Afghanistan. It's simply because it's too difficult,” said Carroll. “The cost to get one scarf to the United States varies depending on the size of our order. As much as we try to standardize it, we always get more or less than what we order.”

Obstacles confront the Flying Scarfs team every day. Carroll explains that the distance between the United States and Afghanistan creates tough coordination problems. Technological differences, communication barriers and security contribute to other concerns.

“Having a main point of contact with our merchant, Wasil, is helpful,” said Carroll, “but we're always on the move, and the time zone difference makes it hard to get on the same page. We can Skype with Wasil, but his Internet connectivity is spotty at best.”
Flying Scarfs is not an ordinary charity. The co-founders run their organization based on a social business model, crafted by Muhammad Yunus, an economist and recipient of a Nobel peace prize in 2006. The founders challenge the typical charity archetype by not exclusively taking donations. Doing this allows Flying Scarfs to boost their profits. Although they do take donations, the main source of earnings relies on the sale of a product. People buy these scarfs because they support the cause, and because they are artistic expressions of the women who sell them.

Flying Scarfs hopes to widen its reach to other communities. In January, Carroll and the Flying Scarfs team are going to Haiti.  The purpose is to create a partnership with Haitian artisans where they can sell their products.

The ultimate objective is to create a market where people can buy merchandise from different places around the world. Carroll visualizes other organizations following the Flying Scarfs model in the future.

Carroll is optimistic about the direction that Flying Scarfs is travelling. Through gaining employment and earning money for their families, the Afghan woman’s struggle for gender equality in Afghanistan is slowly but surely progressing.