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Building a Beautiful Future in Kabul
With her red hair and freckles, Patricia O’Connor certainly stands out
from the crowd on the streets of Kabul. But she moves through the streets
both in Afghanistan and through her home in the city of New York with a
purpose – empowering women with the opportunities that the beauty industry
offers them. Her work with Beauty
Without Borders (www.beautywithoutborders.com) brought her to Kabul where
the dream of a beauty school for Afghan women has become a reality.
O’Connor, who was born in the UK to Irish parents, found that one of
the initial challenges was actually finding an appropriate site for the
Kabul Beauty School following its inception in 2001. “Since so much of the
city has been destroyed, it became apparent we had to build a building,
which took us a year from beginning to end.” The first classes started in
August 2003. Of course, funding was needed and O’Connor used her contacts
as a marketing and development consultant to the beauty industry to secure
companies including Clairol, MAC cosmetics and Vogue magazine to support
the School.
The School recently had its first graduation ceremony, where the only
female Afghan general in the Army came and gave an inspiring speech about
the future for women in the changed country. The graduates are looking toward
a time when they can not only provide many beauty services to other women,
but when they can own and operate their own businesses to reap the profits
of their education.
Said O’Connor, “The School is on par with any school in the world. Women
learn color formulation and pigmentation. You’re really teaching science
when you’re teaching chemistry and color.” Another challenge was combating
the lack of education many of the students had. She adds, “Half of the students
were illiterate, but we have interactive live demos and videos in addition
to textbooks. One of our students said she was so focused on learning that
she worked at it until it clicked, even though she couldn’t read.”
O’Connor found parallels between the students and women in her own life.
She laughs, “The Afghan women are as tough as the Irish women! Their family
comes first and they’re tough and they’re strong. What they can achieve
is limitless, there’s no stopping them. They are an inspiration to all of
us.”
Louise Carroll
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