The social entrepreneur arrived in the country in 2009 and, after several cooperation experiences, she now runs a pasta workshop in which 15 women work. While the Taliban impose a new offensive against women’s right to education, the young women help each other by taking advantage of the spaces left by the law.
Milan () – “When referring to the situation of women in Afghanistan, the information published abroad is often partial. It is not correct to say, for example, that women cannot work at all. They cannot carry out tasks in contact with the public, except in some particular cases”. Who converses with is Selene Biffi, 40, a social entrepreneur from Mezzago. The woman talks about the current situation of Afghan women. Although the Taliban continues to reduce the spaces for freedom by prohibiting young women from going to university (until now access to certain educational levels had been allowed), there are many initiatives to support women even in an extremely complicated context.
This is the case of a pasta factory located in northern Afghanistan, supported by the association She Works for Peace -founded by Selene at the beginning of the year- in conjunction with the Girolomoni Cooperative, active in the production of organic food, and a group of other Italian companies.
Everything arose from a meeting, in March of this year: Selene, who had also participated in the evacuation of Afghan citizens in August 2021, returned to the country to distribute the aid collected in Italy after the Taliban reconquest among the population. “People were happy to receive help, but they asked me about the possibility of going back to work.” This is how the support network created by Selene became the non-profit organization She Works for Peacewhose objective is to support micro-enterprises of women who live in difficult contexts.
In March, Selene participated in an event for women entrepreneurs. There he met Sima, a woman who sells scarves and stoles: “Her dream, however, was to reopen her pasta factory, which opened in 2018 but was later closed when the Taliban came to power.” A year has passed since the fall of Kabul and the pasta factory has come back to life (see photo): at first it worked two days a week, now the workers come five days a week. Most are widows or have sick husbands, so they are the only breadwinner for their families. “When we talk about micro-enterprises,” says Biffi, “we are also referring to a woman who lives alone, but has a cow that she milks and whose milk she then sells on the market. So in many cases these are survival activities “. In one year, She Works for Peace has supported more than 300 women-owned micro-enterprises across Afghanistan.
The pasta factory is currently located in a house that has been remodeled into a workshop. Women are in charge of production – at first there were two, now there are 15 – and two men were hired for product distribution tasks.
It is difficult to predict what direction Afghanistan will take in the coming months. The Taliban leadership harbors different currents within it and, meanwhile, the country, overtaken by more pressing issues such as the war in Ukraine, has fallen into oblivion by the international community. However, the UN estimates that 28.3 million people – two thirds of the population – will need humanitarian aid in 2023. Almost four million women and children suffer from acute malnutrition. Due to the economic crisis and the lack of liquidity, household debts have multiplied by six. Today, more than 70% of the income goes to the purchase of food.
However, Selene has no intention of giving up and neither do the Afghan women: “These women and girls are rebuilding the local socio-economic fabric despite the restrictions imposed by the Taliban,” says the businesswoman. “They seek a balance between the possibilities that are offered to them and their needs: it is a sign of great strength, it shows that they do not want to give up despite the difficulties.”
“What impresses me most about Afghan women is their desire to support each other,” Biffi continues. They think of other women like them: they want to teach, create opportunities and new jobs even in such a complex context,” she continues. Selene arrived in Afghanistan for the first time in 2009 and since then she has never completely abandoned him: but “he is the one who chose me,” she says. I arrived as a volunteer, I worked for an international organization but then I returned in 2013.” That year, the former volunteer founded the Qessa Academy (the Academy of Tales), in Kabul. A school for minstrels and traditional troubadours, a way to “train and inform” unemployed youth between the ages of 18 and 25. Despite the 20-year presence of the international community in Afghanistan, more than 60% of the Afghan population remains illiterate.”
Hence the decision to resort to traditional storytelling (characterized by the wealth of folktales, embellished by the Persian epic) to reach young people and local communities: “Popular culture suffered a slow decline that began with the occupation in 1979, and then with the first Taliban rule in the 1990s, itinerant minstrels risked disappearing,” Biffi explains. “In 2013, the remaining storytellers were all very old; on the other hand, there was a very young and almost illiterate population – more than 60% were under 25 years of age. Until 2020, the Qessa Academy informed local communities on various topics through the traditional method of storytelling – which is “more intimate and easier to accept” for Afghans – including through public events and radio and television programmes.
Meanwhile, the Sima pasta factory, in northern Afghanistan, has also received support from three other Italian companies linked to the production of pasta (Sima Impianti, from Spresiano, and Landucci and Ricciarelli, from Pistoia) which, together with Girolomoni, they will continue to offer resources and technical support. After all, whether through a pasta factory or a storytelling academy, what Selene Biffi is trying to do is rewrite the history of a country hit by decades of wars and fanaticism.
