ARZU 2012 highlights

A weaver's hand, decorated in henna, runs through the loom.


The ARZU preschool class smiles for the camera in the Women's Community Center courtyard in Bamyan



The completed stage and bandstand in the newly constructed ARZU Community Field and Family Park in Bamyan. The Second Vice President of Afghanistan used this stage to speak to the Afghan people. (October 2012



ARZU weaver Firoza smiles while holding her son



Construction on the second ARZU Women's Community Center in Shashpul.



A young girl in ARZU's preschool asks her teacher a question during class




Two girls laugh together at the ARZU Garden Center playground.

Arzu, which means “hope” in Dari, is an innovative model of social entrepreneurship to help Afghan women weavers & their families break the cycle of poverty by providing them steady income & access to education. http://arzustudiohope.org/

Mission

ARZU STUDIO HOPE's mission is to create economic sustainability for global communities in need.

Company Overview

ARZU, which means “hope” in Dari, is an innovative model of social entrepreneurship that helps Afghan women weavers and their families break the cycle of poverty by providing them steady income and access to education and healthcare by sourcing and selling the rugs they weave. While structured as a 501(c)(3) in the United States and an international NGO in Afghanistan, ARZU operates as a “for-bene...fit” corporation, using private sector practices to create jobs in desperately poor rural villages where little opportunity exists.

Following its fifth anniversary in June 2009, ARZU evolved to grow as a more global brand called, ARZU STUDIO HOPE.

ARZU STUDIO HOPE continues to support a holistic approach to sustainable poverty alleviation achieved through artisan-based employment that empowers women. Women, earning fair labor wages, weave exquisite hand-knotted rugs at home. Innovative social benefit practices drive transformational change by providing grassroots access to vital education, healthcare, clean water and sustainable community development programs.