Barakat, Inc.
Barakat, Inc. is a non-governmental organization doing humanitarian work in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. With a small office in the United States and a number of contacts on the ground in the aforementioned three countries, Barakat holds to the mission of bringing progressive social change to South and Central Asian communities even when that change is locally controversial.
Etymology
The term “Barakat” is used universally in Arabic, Turkic, and Persian languages often as a salutation. In Arabic, it is the plural form of "Barak" and commonly translated as "blessings". Specifically, "Barakat" refers to blessings or a divinely inspired guidance. This guidance or influence may be found among persons, places, things, and actions.[1]
Beginnings
Barakat was founded by social entrepreneurs Chris Walter, from the U.S., and Habibullah Karimi, from Afghanistan. The organization was originally conceived to aid people in the communities from whom Walter bought the rugs that he sold from his business in Massachusetts. This first project, the Ersari Turkmen project, built a school for Turkmen Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and also helped bring back the ages-old carpet-weaving tradition of vegetable dyes, to replace the chemical dyes being used at the time. From there, Barakat expanded its projects into more locations in Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan and India.
Current work
Barakat does work with social innovators in its three target countries. One of its foremost projects is a program of girl's and women's literacy courses in the Faryab and Jowzjan provinces of Afghanistan, where female opportunities in education tend to be limited. Local elements striving against female education are readily apparent in the case of Azaada, a girl in the area brought up as a boy in order to warrant schooling for her.[2] The organization also runs schools in the Bhadohi region of Uttar Pradesh, India, and in refugee camps in Pakistan. Representatives of Barakat recently traveled to Asia to visit some of their project sites.[3]
References
- ↑ "What does "Barakat" mean?". Archived from the original on September 22, 2008.
- ↑ Pandey, Arti (Feb 23, 2008). "The girl who grew up as a boy". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ Dunning, Matt (Jan 21, 2008). "Cambridge resident does her part to educate globally". Cambridge Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011.