Herat Self-Immolation Project

In 2004, in response to an article by Kim Sevcik in Marie-Claire, WAW received $31,000 in donations. The money was to be used to help victims of a frightful epidemic that had broken out among the women of Herat and other provinces in Afghanistan. Each year, hundreds of them were chosing to solve their problems by setting themselves on fire. Many chose to commit suicide in despair over the bleakness of their lives. Others chose self-immolation as a protest against their oppression. They were crying for help.

We used a small portion of the money to pay the salaries of nurses and doctors in the burn ward of Herat Hospital and to purchase a washer and dryer. Bandages covering the burns were in short supply and had to be reused. The washer/dryer relieved workers of having to launder them by hand.

Because we had no way of overseeing how the hospital would spend the remaining $28,000, we decided to apply the money to a project that focused on suicide prevention: the creation of women's shuras in rural villages in Herat. The project was developed and supported by a local NGO,  Voice of Women Organization. The shura, the traditional tribal council, had always been an exclusive male stronghold in Afghanistan. Women’s shuras give members the chance to take charge of their lives through self-governance and by organizing literacy and vocational training classes and income generating activities. We assisted the women in Herat by funding the construction of a building to house their shura.

Today, the shura is a profitable enterprise. Members earn money by raising silkworms, spinning and dying the silk, and weaving scarves and other products. And they have started other businesses, such as canning fruits and vegetables, which they sell in the market. 

Click here to see Fahima’s reports of her work, which include lists of those shuras.

Click here to see the September 9th, 2005 Women's eNews article featuring WAW's work in Herat.