from WGNtv.com
CoverStory
Micah Materre, Pam Grimes, Mike D'Angelo, 
Reporter/ Producer/ Photographer

March 6, 2008

Five years ago... Chicago businesswoman Connie Duckworth took a trip to Kabul, Afghanistan. She walked into a country at war, desperate poverty, and virtually no educational opportunities or health care for Afghan women. But what can one Chicago woman do? We think you'll be amazed.





Small rugs start at about $500.00.... or you can purchase room size-more elaborate rugs up to $20,000.00 Each rug is tagged with a number that allows buyers to learn the story of their weaver and track their progress out of poverty. There's so much more to this story that you can learn by going to this links.
• ARZU RUGS

Copyright © 2008, WGN-TV

Arzu Rugs

ARZU, meaning hope in Dari, is a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide sustainable income to Afghan women by sourcing and selling the carpets they weave. For poor illiterate Afghan women, mastering the centuries-old tradition of weaving is often their only hope to generate income in a culturally acceptable way. ARZU helps weavers and their families break the cycle of poverty through fair labor conditions, by compensating weavers at approximately 150% of the prevailing rate and providing access to education and healthcare.
 
ARZU carpets are handmade from naturally-dyed, finely handspun wool. Each ARZU rug is a unique work of art celebrating the heritage of the Afghan women weavers. Though hundreds of patterns have flourished in Afghanistan over the centuries, Arzu worked with leading rug experts (including Minasian) to select those patterns most admired in the global marketplace in order to create the Arzu Rug Collections. Minasian Rug Company is proud of their association with ARZU and has contributed with both design and distribution of the carpets. Armen and Carnig Minasian also serve on the ARZU Advisory Council.