Beyond the Bike
A bike ride to raise money and awareness for widows in Afghanistan
Date: Saturday, September 12th
Time: 9:00 am
Distance: Metric Century (62 miles)
Start & Finish: 38 Ellicott Street Needham, MA
Fundraising commitment: $500
Questions: Call (781) 465-6464 or email info@beyondthe11th.org
Beyond the 11th is a non-profit organization that provides support to widows in Afghanistan who have been affected by war, terrorism and oppression. Co-founders Susan Retik and Patti Quigley were moved to action in the wake of September 11th, which claimed the lives of their husbands. Blessed with overwhelming support from their families and communities, the obvious disparity between the support they received and the cruel realities facing their Afghan counterparts prompted them to channel their grief towards empowering Afghan widows to realize a better and sustainable future.
Beyond the Bike is specifically raising money for construction of the Dragon Valley Women's Community Center in Bamyan, Afghanistan. This center will include:
- laundry facilities
- shower room with a latrine
- tea room/lounge
- classroom
- community garden
- job training
Any one of the above resources would better the lives of women, but combined, the center will truly be life changing for the women who become a part of the community.
More Information on the Dragon Valley Community Center:
Few places in the world are less hospitable to women than Dragon Valley. With a climate dominated by a frigid winter, and no central heat, plumbing or electricity in homes, women rarely if ever manage a reprieve from grueling household chores and childrearing. Work for income is rarely an option. A life expectancy of 46 is far too easy to imagine for women in this village cradled by the northern mountains of Afghanistan.
For a growing number of area women, however, the nonprofit Arzu, which means “hope” in Dari, has delivered opportunity by revitalizing the ancient art of rug weaving. Many women had the skills but no looms or quality wool. Arzu delivered both, cultivated a market for the beautiful rugs in the United States and beyond, and in addition to a generous wage that could be earned from home, provided desperately needed health care and education opportunities for rug weavers and their families. Now, Arzu will increase work opportunities and address quality of life issues for local women through construction of the Dragon Valley Community Center.
Beginning in November, rug weavers, many of them widows, will have access to a warm, safe facility where they can take classes, do laundry, bathe, use a flush toilet, collaborate with other weavers in a bright, spacious loom room or just sit for a moment in a chair and sip a hot cup of tea. For the women of Dragon Valley, these are unimaginable luxuries. The Community Center will give women who are among the poorest in the world a sense of value and will provide the chance to improve their weaving skills or train for additional life-changing job opportunities.
