Alex Fees: The concepts of freedom and liberty got to work out in mid September at the WIPP conference here in our Nations Capital, nationwide membership in Women Impacting Public Policy is an indication that women entrepreneurship is on the rise. In this country but one group of WIPP members is from a country where this simple notion of women business ownership is life threatening.
Manizha Wafeg: We precede you carry and all those who shared in this event.
Alex Fees: The women in the lobby of the May Flower Hotel in Washington DC are along way from home. After completing a mentoring program sponsored by WIPP Women Impacting Public Policy these business owners from Afghanistan are getting ready to return to their homeland. This women, owns a business-consulting firm.
Manizha Wafeg: We have gone through an extensive training for the last five weeks and the training was consisting of capitalism, free market, fundamentals, accounting fundamentals and the business plan development.
Alex Fees: This woman is a tailor.
Saleha Alayar: I learn from here and I’m sure I'm go back and definitely I will share it with other women that who don’t have a chance to come here and take this training. It’s really great training for us.
Alex Fees: Zurha Ahadi is an Afghani- American who assisted in the program.
Zurha Ahadi: The government is telling then you can go ahead and open up your businesses and continue to going to work and educate yourself its a matter of the Taliban if they would leave them. And these women are not afraid. They said “We don’t care, we’re going to go open up our businesses and if a suicide bomber comes in and blows up the whole place we are fine, we don’t care, we want to go ahead and do this. We don’t want to hide behind the shot doors anymore”.
Alex Fees: Mentor and Iranian immigrant Kayhan Hellriegel is the owner of Kayhan international a commercial architectural design and furniture distributor that does business in 26 countries.
Kayhan Hellriegel: It’s very difficult for them to overcome that kind of culture but I think it can be done if an educated women do that try to that I think it can be done. Just like in the United State was many, many years ago so I think it’s — I think in that culture women are the one I think they’ll going to make a big difference in their freedom themselves they have to do that. I don’t think they can wait for men to do it for them.
Alex Fees: These women will take that to Afghanistan with them a portrait of Mid-Western hospitality an American capitalism that they hope will prove economically revolutionary.
Manizha Wafeg: The people of America they have been very nice, appreciate their openness, sharing their knowledge experience in the world to promote others, especially foreigners.
Alex Fees: And this experience gives and international cutting edge to an organization most often associated with American entrepreneurship.
Saleha Alayar: I know that this training is through the Woman Impacting Public Policy, so we really appreciate from them that they make this kind of wonderful training for us. We never think that the—one day we would came here and American business woman’s share their knowledge with us, so we are happy for them that they have given us this opportunity to come here and to learn from them.
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