The New York Times recently published an article about the plight of women in Pakistan, focusing in particular on the story of Saima Muhammed – a woman who failed to produce male children for her out-of-work husband. Despite the fact that we know men are genetically responsible for determining the sex of a child, Saima’s husband took out his frustrations on her and beat her – along with threatening to take a second wife. In Pakistan, this is culturally acceptable and in line with the laws and codes that stratify the society, keeping women firmly under the thumb of men in the country.
Using a microloan from the Kashf Foundation, Saima was able to get back on her feet, pay off her husband’s debts, and start a small business. Now, there is no doubt as to who is in charge of the household, and Saima’s husband works for her.
It’s this kind of success story that makes everything we do worthwhile. Through our micro-credit loan program, we enable people who would normally be denied a loan to get back on their feet and move forward. The amount of money that these people require is but a pittance to most of us; all it takes is someone willing to listen. The Fair Trade system does not discriminate when it comes to who we have stitching our sports balls for us; the third-party certification teams make sure that we employ just as many women as we do men and that they both receive a good living wage.
It’s good to see a large paper with a huge readership like the New York Times paying attention to this cause, but there’s still a lot of work to be done!
