Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil (2007)

It's almost its own genre now: first-world white woman enters third-world country, wants to help, ends up enriched by the experience. Along the way some of them actually do provide some needed help.

Rodriguez was helped in the writing by friend Kristin Ohlsen, and I would love to know who did what. I did find it better than stock writing, better than most "as told to" stories. Perhaps that is in part because the stories of the Afghan women are intertwined with the stories about how the beauty school came about and continued, and sometimes they just fade away. I think, too, though, that Rodriguez's sense of humor permeates the book but with just the right degree of attention. She doesn't knock us over the head with the funny parts, just states them and moves on.

But to the story. Rodriguez first headed for Kabul as an aide after the Taliban was deposed after 9/11/2001. The place was in ruins, recovering, trying to find itself again. Rodriguez was a cosmetologist among medical aid workers, and she wondered why she had been chosen to join the relief effort. We can only speculate, but she did soon find her place in this city where beauty salons had been outlawed during the Taliban's regime. She headed home to the states after meeting a number of people and determining that there was a great need for a beauty school in Kabul. And she returned, after some bumps, accompanied by huge donations from beauty product suppliers.

She had seen how women were treated and how helpless they were in many situations there, given the culture and the laws. She wanted to offer an alternative way for women to make money on their own, build their self-esteem, help their families. And she knew that there is nothing like a salon or beauty school for creating community among women.

So we learn of the obstacles Rodriguez faced and how she managed to do so. It was through these challenges that we find out what kind of person she is. I think this is what I enjoyed the most. I could never have stood up to the organizations and neighbors and others the way she did. She also had the ability to call upon the strengths of others as needed, and they rose to the challenge. But she doesn't stop to pat herself on the back or to engage in false modesty.

I became so engrossed with the story that I lost a bit of sleep until it was done. I was sad to hear that the school no longer operates, but that does not mean that her work was for nothing. Read it and find out. ( )

The description of this memoir intrigued me and the story did not disappoint.
Such a strange chain of events that led the most unlikely person to become a post war relief aid.
Day after day she saw the devastation, and heard the personal stories from the women of Afghanistan. These heartbreaking stories set the course for a journey that was both personally and professionally life changing, not only for her but also for the women of Kabul.
Inspiring, emotional, beautiful and tragic, this poignant story gives you a rare look inside a world that few Westerners have ever seen. ( )

Da lontano sembrano fiori nella polvere, sprazzi di azzurro nel grigio delle strade di Kabul. Fiori calpestati, ma non spezzati, che sotto il burqa celano storie di sofferenza e coraggio. Come quella di Baseera, promessa sposa a dodici anni a un uomo più vecchio di lei e costretta a partorire sul nudo cemento di un ospedale privo di personale medico. O quella della quindicenne incarcerata perché fuggita dal marito che la picchiava e denunciata alla polizia dagli stessi genitori. A raccontare queste storie è Deborah Rodriguez, una volontaria americana che nel 2002 è partita per l'Afghanistan con una piccola ONG. È stata tra le fondatrici della prima scuola per estetiste della capitale afghana: un progetto nato per offrire a tante donne un'opportunità di indipendenza economica, e per ridare una speranza a quelle che, durante il regime talebano, avevano dovuto chiudere i loro saloni di bellezza e sotterrare gli specchi, proibiti al pari degli aquiloni. La sua testimonianza è anche un inno all'amicizia, perché nell'oasi della Kabul Beauty School, libere dal burqa e dal controllo degli uomini, le donne hanno trovato uno spazio tutto per sé, dove sono nate complicità inaspettate, capaci di superare le barriere erette da una cultura repressiva. In un paese in cui la strada verso la pace e la conquista dei diritti civili sembra impraticabile, questa impresa straordinaria lancia un messaggio di speranza.

True story middle 2010's — approx afghanistan — teaching women way to earn $ — horrific stories of no woman's rights, etc.
changing their life + hers?
Arranged marriage to Son — not well written but gets Afghan women's stories out

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.

This was such an enjoyable memoir!

Deborah Rodriguez left a horrid marriage to help women halfway across the globe in Afghanistan. She didn't understand the culture or speak the language. But her heart was deeply committed to the Kabul Beauty School project and the women she trained.

Becoming a beautician offered these Afghan women an opportunity to support their families, often including a large extended family. Many of them spent years away from Kabul while the Taliban was in control. They're immigrants and refugees in their home country.

Having financial power gives the women a chance to change their often abusive marital situation as well. The drive they have to succeed is inspiring, especially when factoring in the massive obstacles.

Debbie is a hot mess, and in that sense she's the perfect person to teach and encourage her students. She gets involved in the NGO and diplomatic communities, bringing fun and relaxation to all kinds of folks.

Her writing style is conversational, perfectly blending rollicking humor with heartbreaking sadness. It's like meeting a girlfriend for pedicures and a catch up!

Debbie includes a multitude of cultural lessons about Afghanistan that illustrate the conservative nature of (mostly) post-Taliban Kabul. Time and again, Debbie has no clue about the actual reality of her students' lives. But her genuine caring and feisty nature overcome a lot! ( )