Overcoming Daunting Obstacles

Who would think that there are women from the Asian continent who are setting a shining example for women everywhere? Most of us women have had challenges in the workplace, whether it is having to work harder in order to prove ourselves “worthy” to men while trying to break through the glass ceiling or juggling both a career and home life. Sometimes these struggles can discourage us, while causing us to wonder at times, what’s the point?

Yet, when I look at the Afghan women who face challenges that go far beyond frustration in Arthur Kent’s piece, I shake my head and tell myself to buck up. Nearly all the engineers and designers responsible for planning the new parliament complex in Kabul are women and their challenges can be a matter of life or death.

And then there was this article recently in the New York Times:

Women have stormed a male bastion in this historic city, capital of the northern province of Balkh, and traditionalists are clicking their tongues in disapproval. For the first time, five women have opened shops in Mazar under an initiative promoted by the provincial Women’s Affairs Department. The head of the department, Friba Majid, said a big market exclusively run by women will open here in the coming months.

These women have certainly set the standard for me. This doesn’t mean women here should simply be grateful and put up with the inequality in the workplace, but instead it should give us the drive and focus to realize that we have the resources to be all that we can be. After all, if the women in Afghanistan can rise above such daunting obstacles, we can rise above our barriers.