Zarghona overcomes challenges to launch her own restaurant
Written By: Zahra Rashidi
“Hawasaneh Adi” is the name of a small restaurant managed by Zarghona. It has been about four months since the establishment of this restaurant. This restaurant’s menu is decorated with names of hot and cold dishes and beverages called “Hawasaneh.”
Zarghona, the owner of this restaurant, is a woman who, before the recent political change in the country (the fall of the previous government), was studying at a university in Kabul and simultaneously working at the university canteen, an experience that helped her start her own restaurant in these “conditions.”
She lost her father years ago, and currently, two members of her family, including her mother and brother with mental disabilities, depend on her, adding more responsibilities to this young woman’s shoulders.
While Zarghona was in the fourth grade, her father resisted her continuing her studies, a decision she had no say in. She couldn’t continue her education, but after seven years of interruption, several years of hiatus, and her father’s death, she resumed her studies until she began studying pharmacy at a university.
Zarghona says that when she worked as a seller in the university canteen, she was ridiculed by her peers and had to endure unfavourable reactions, but “we’ve been fighting since the beginning of life until now, and so far, these efforts have been for my family, not for myself.”
Zarghona says, “I tried to find a job; on the other hand, I tried to get my brothers to work before me. And then, with very little personal expense, we created ‘Hawasaneh Adi,’ and all the family members are busy working in it except for my sick mother.”
While four months have passed since the establishment of this small restaurant Hawasaneh, Zarghona says they have had a good income during this time and have now rented two more shops to have more space.
She has come a long way to get here, a journey of challenges compounded in an environment like Afghanistan. Zarghona remembers moments of despair along this path and even attempted suicide once due to the judgments of relatives and neighbors, but she is glad that she has never stopped on the way.
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