Women’s role in rebuilding Afghanistan increases By Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, International Security Assistance Force HQ KABUL, Afghanistan – Zakia Wardak isn’t your typical mother living in Afghanistan, but instead serves as a role model for her daughters and many other aspiring women who are helping to rebuild their war-torn country. Wardak who left for the United States in 1990 returned to Afghanistan in 2009 to open her own construction firm, ZPlus, as well as the Society of Afghan Women Engineering and Construction. “Living in the United States completely changes you; you believe in freedom, you believe in yourself, and you can compete with anyone in any fields. It also gave me a lot of strength and made me a strong person,” said Wardak, who added that she now believes that as long as you have a “goal and a vision you can achieve, but working hard and consistency” will always help you accomplish your dreams. Wardak is a definite goal setter, her construction firm is responsible for five major projects in Afghanistan to include an Afghan National Army logistics center, three various road projects, and building a distribution center in Wardak. Wardak has seen major improvements since returning to her native country and is hopeful that more positive changes will continue for all Afghans. “I have seen a lot of improvements. Things are completely different than before,” said Wardak. “I want every Afghan woman to work shoulder to shoulder with an Afghan man and not to compete with one another, but to support one another.” Wardak knows that change takes time, but she sees how women are treated after they prove they are capable to perform, “that is how change happens” added Wardak. “Change takes time to change a society and culture and how a woman can become a leader, role model, engineer, a doctor, mother, or whatever they want,” said Wardak. Soon after arriving in Afghanistan, Wardak wanted to help inspire future generations of Afghans, men and women, to enter the engineering field, especially after three decades of war. “Hopefully a lot of girls will go to engineering school and become great role model for other girls,” said Wardak, who drives inspiration when she successfully completes a project. Her desire to launch the Society of Afghan Women Engineering and Construction was to motivate other business owners to launch construction and engineering firm for the betterment of Afghanistan.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:30:01 +0000
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