OUR VISION

ARZU STUDIO HOPE believes in 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.

SOCIAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

ARZU, Inc. is a social business enterprise (“SBE”) — a true public/private sector partnership sustained by revenues from the sales of high-end rugs and supplemented by generous donor support.

ARZU is a not-for-profit organization, operating with private sector discipline while pioneering transformational commerce with care.  Surplus “profits” accrue for the benefit of project participants, instead of shareholders. ARZU’s focus is on the triple bottom line — people, planet and profit for good.

In 2008, ARZU earned international recognition for its exemplary social business practices, as a recipient of the prestigious SKOLL FOUNDATION Award for scalable social entrepreneurship. To learn more about the SKOLL FOUNDATION visit the Skoll Foundation website.

SOCIAL CONTRACT

Money alone will not change people’s lives -- they must also have access to the essential skills and education necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world. Central to ARZU’s approach is our Social Contract with weaver families. ARZU agrees to pay women the market-weaving rate, plus up to a 50% incentive bonus for the highest quality workmanship. In exchange for this extra income, families must agree: to send all children, both girls and boys, under age 15 to school full-time; to allow all women in the household to attend ARZU literacy classes; and to permit ARZU to transport pregnant women and newborns to clinics for pre- and post-natal care.  To read more about our Social Programs, visit our Social Programs page.

FEMALE EQUALITY

Severe inequity and female abuse often result from gender-biased, male-dominated societies where education, opportunity and free choice do not exist for females. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan identified the empowerment of women as the single most effective tool for development. There are few countries in need of development more than Afghanistan, and few countries where the women are less empowered. 

Read More About Female Equality

FAIR LABOR

The rug industry is notorious for exploitation of women. Widows, particularly vulnerable to abuse, support 33% of ARZU families. ARZU steps in to standardize, control and validate payments for work.  ARZU provides upfront (and at no cost) the resources necessary for weavers to earn a fair labor living: top quality materials, graphs, and expert oversight. Since almost no weaving families actually own a loom when they join ARZU, we developed a “rent to own” cost-sharing program to provide a sturdy metal loom, which is typically a household’s most important capital asset.

ARZU’s economic empowerment program enables a woman in her multiple roles as mother, caregiver and breadwinner. Weaving, a centuries-old tradition handed down from mother to daughter, traditionally takes place within the home, naturally enabling mothers to care for their children while simultaneously earning wages.

ARZU’s code of practice regarding child weavers is more stringent than the Afghanistan’s government. All weavers’ children under 15 must attend school full-time. ARZU monitors attendance and performance to ensure that families comply with this requirement. For example, ARZU staff review the attendance sheets at government schools and discuss unexplained absences with the families.