2009

 

What it’s like: She Opened An Amusement Park in Rwanda
“We opened in 2006, and we now employ 75 people, plus seasonal help. There are gardens and a large hall with a restaurant. The park includes a race-car track, a UFO ride, little trains, spinning helicopters, bumper cars, a swing. There’s also a pool and picnic areas. There’s no other park like this in Rwanda; it has something for everyone. And places where people can be together help reduce the conflicts between them.”

 

 

Giving Thanks and Calling for Change
“The Business Council for Peace (Bpeace), an organization that I work with which helps women entrepreneurs in post-conflict countries expand their businesses, reported more disturbing news last week. Three of our Afghan partner-businesswomen have recently had family members kidnapped and held for ransom. Two more regularly receive death threats. These entrepreneurs, along with many others have become targets of violence because of their success, and their perceived ability to meet extortionist's demands.... Together with Bpeace, I remain committed to working with Afghan entrepreneurs to rebuild the country despite these challenges. For us, the increase in violence in Afghanistan is an inconvenience, not an impasse. We minimize our travel there, but we find other ways to help entrepreneurs find the shortest path to success.... We admire and respect the determination of these incredibly resilient women. But more importantly, we need to show them that they are not standing up to the violence by themselves.”

 

 

Give Bpeace a Chance
Watch Bpeacer Susan McPherson share the Bpeace story in a way--flyaways, chocolate milk, leotards--that only the gals at TMI would spin it.

 

 

Philanthropy in Africa Series: Bpeace Young Professionals
“On February 26, nearly 400 people attended the Bpeace Extravaganza, hosted by the Bpeace Young Professionals Committee (YPC) in New York City. School founders Jeanne and Sylvie upon hearing that the NY event was a success, emailed: ‘Thank you for providing opportunity to those who had no hope and from which we can pass skills and build a better Rwanda of tomorrow. On behalf of all the Rwandan Bpeace entrepreneurs, we want you to know that your presence is a motivation for us to do what is right and make sure this beauty project is a success.’ The project is currently seeking partnerships with beauty and cosmetics companies for this effort.”

 

2008

 

Doing Business in Afghanistan: Rangina Hamidi's Kandahar Treasure helps Afghan women sell embroidered goods in a war-torn country where security is a constant concern
 “Living and working in the midst of a very destructive war is no easy job. However, I see hope when I see how the simple women have been able to transform their lifestyles with the little money that they earn through our business.
“…I experienced firsthand what is involved in doing business in the fashion industry as well as learning what it takes to import and export products through a project in New York (BusinessWeek.com, 6/7/05) sponsored by the Business Council for Peace.

 

Bringing Afghani women into a new world of business
…Ms. Chock embarked on two simultaneous journeys: one to make a difference in the lives of a few courageous Afghan women and the other to direct “Thread,” an intimate documentary portrait of real life in Afghanistan.

“What the film does is humanize these people who we often see underneath burkas,” Ms. Chock said. “It dispels a lot of preconceived notions a lot of us have about Afghan men and women and the family structure.”

 

 

Lidia Bastianich Honored at the Bpeace Gala

Lidia Bastianich was honored at the Bpeace gala for her work as a entrepreneur and role model. Bastianich actually came to this country after living as a displaced refugee in Trieste, Italy. Her subsequent success makes her a living example of what Bpeace is trying to achieve.

2007

 

Five Afghan Bpeace Associates Profiled on Washington Post Website

In a new multimedia feature,an extraordinary group of Afghan women entrepreneurs are telling their untold stories, five years after the fall of the Taliban. “The Women of Kabul” profiles five Afghan women that the U.S.-based non-profit Business Council for Peace (Bpeace) is mentoring and training over a three-year period. The multimedia project with images and audio by award-winning photojournalist Paula Lerner.

 

 

Peace Dividend: Women in Afghanistan discover prosperity with help from women in America.  

After Nargis Shearzad had an operation on her leg as a child, a doctor prescribed exercises to help her heal. Thrilled with the results and her healthy new lifestyle, she would open a gym for women years later as an adult. While that might not sound like a revolutionary accomplishment here in the U.S., it was for Shearzadn, 26, a single woman in Afghanistan.

 

Business women design peace building projects in Rwanda
Symphrose Mukamazimpaka, owner of Le Petit Prince Hotel in Butare appreciated the help given to them during the first year. She says she received Bpeace US members at her hotel who were able to train her and hotel staff on how to properly run the hotel.

“I learnt how to manage the hotel and the staff,” she says. The hotel staff was taught how to offer services and general work around the hotel. She adds that the training gives value to one’s business noting that she learnt that the business does not help her alone but also the community.

Denise C. Ward owner of Hospitality Gulu from America also Bpeace member, who has worked as an expert volunteer in Le Petit Prince Hotel for one month, handled the staff into hotel opening and closing procedures.

 

2006

 

 

The Volunteers: Cut-and-run is not in their vocabulary.

"Here in the U.S., the political new year will fill up fast enough with politicians and pundits offering ways to unwind and spindle the commitments America made to Iraq and Afghanistan. So this seemed a good moment to revisit the folks running Spirit of America and the Business Council for Peace. They're not going to leave.... "It was about 19 months ago to the day that 13 women from Afghanistan were looking out the windows of the 29th floor of the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan, brought there by a group of American businesswomen who call themselves the Business Council for Peace (Bpeace). One of the women remarked that New York looked 'very new.' The idea was to expose the Afghans, most of them college graduates, to basic business know-how.

 

 

Letter on Afghanistan from Bpeace Board Member
Kate Buggeln writes: "Rebuilding Afghanistan requires local commitment and international support. It also requires sufficient stability in the present so that Afghans can focus on the future. How can we expect Afghans to make the individual commitments and personal investments necessary to reconstruct their country when not only does continuing instability exist but also its source is an unchecked next-door neighbor? If the situation remains unchanged, the Afghan citizenry will become merely observers in the international community's expensive and then likely doomed efforts to rebuild their nation."

BPEACE'S AFGHAN AND RWANDAN ENTREPRENEURS ARE ROLE MODELS FOR THE WORLD. 

 

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR. Entrepreneur Kamela teaches Afghans the skills they need to start ventures.  She employs 25 men and women.  By the end of 2008, her firm will be operating in Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Herat, making national reach nearly a reality.

 

ALLAFRICA.COM.  Pierette operates a freight forwarding agency in Rwanda that employs 18 people supporting 109 Rwandans.  She speaks about the training that will make Rwanda’s clearing and forwarding agencies ready for EAC.

 

CNN.  Rangina was named one of CNN’s 2008 Heroes for her work providing jobs to more than 400 women in Kandahar, Afghanistan, one of the most violent provinces in the country.

 

ZAWYA-DUBAI. The women in Afghanistan, like journalist Mobina, general manager and program director in Radio Rabae Balkhi, are trying to elevate the status of women in the society. She runs a daily show in the Balkh province, mainly dealing with women issues.

 

BLOGS

Visit our most recent blogs.

 

May 2009 to see how to FUNraise while cutting a rug.

 

April 2009 to travel with Phyllis, HR guru extraordinaire, as she trains and coaches 18 Associates in Rwanda.

 

November 2008 to watch Customer Service lessons take hold in Rwanda.

 

January 2008 as a pop-up ad agency team delivers logos and branding in Rwanda.

 

November 2007 as the new group of Bpeace Afghan entrepreneurs enhance their finance, marketing and human resource skills at Dubai Women’s College.

 

September 2007 as customer service training and the pilot beauty salon training in Rwanda uncover untapped potential for business expansion.

 

PHOTOS

Photojournalist Paula Lerner’s Afghanistan Gallery.

Photographer Peter Lien’s photos of Rwanda and international development.