Second, we've been trying unsuccessfully for well over a year to purchase jewelry directly from a woman jeweler in Kabul. They are very difficult to find. Most jewelry is sold by and through men, as is most commerce.
By diligently pursuing a complicated and circuitous route Suzanne found one, Massouda. This is a significant breakthrough. Our bait now supports a female entrepreneur in Afghanistan and provides beautiful "ethnic" and "simple" Afghan lapis jewelry for existing and potential supporters of our projects and programs. It also adds money to Afghanistan's economy, now ranked the 16th poorest country in the world with a GDP per capita of $601 per year. When I first began, Afghanistan was the fifth poorest country in the world. There has been some progress, unfortunately seldom acknowledged by the media.
