ARZU STUDIO HOPE

ARZU, which means “hope” in Dari, is an innovative model of social entrepreneurship that helps Afghan women weavers and their families break the cycle of poverty by providing them steady income and access to education and healthcare by sourcing and selling the rugs they weave. While structured as a 501(c)(3) in the United States and an international NGO in Afghanistan, ARZU operates as a “for-benefit” corporation, using private sector practices to create jobs in desperately poor rural villages where little opportunity exists.

OUR VISION

ARZU STUDIO HOPE believes in a holistic approach to sustainable poverty alleviation achieved through artisan-based employment that empowers women. Women, earning fair labor wages, weave exquisite hand-knotted rugs at home. Innovative social benefit practices drive transformational change by providing grassroots access to vital education, healthcare, clean water and sustainable community development programs.

SOCIAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

ARZU, Inc. is a social business enterprise (“SBE”) — a true public/private sector partnership sustained by revenues from the sales of high-end rugs and supplemented by generous donor support.

ARZU is a not-for-profit organization, operating with private sector discipline while pioneering transformational commerce with care. Surplus “profits” accrue for the benefit of project participants, instead of shareholders. ARZU’s focus is on the triple bottom line — people, planet and profit for good.