How These Women Are Using Bitcoin to Change Lives in Afghanistan

Image source: Dazhi

When you live in an environment of contradictions and oppression and have no power to change your life, transferring money, which is extremely convenient and fast in our lives, is almost impossible. However, this does not stop some women living in Afghanistan from pursuing their women's education and seeking funds for it. Instead of traditional legal currency and money orders, they choose to use Bitcoin. This idea also inspired Blockchain co-founder Nicholas Cary.

This is a challenge that Afghan woman Fereshteh Forough has to overcome. Before she was born, her family was forced to leave their homeland due to tensions in Afghanistan. They moved to Iran, but returned to Afghanistan as refugees when the Taliban regime collapsed in 2002.

A few years later, she was admitted to Herat University in Afghanistan and obtained a bachelor's degree in computer technology. She then went to Germany to study and obtained a master's degree in information technology from the Berlin Institute of Technology. The rich knowledge she acquired was also the source of inspiration in the future.

But Afghan society was not as easy as Fereshteh thought, especially for a woman studying technology. It was difficult to find a job, so she moved to another city to seek better opportunities to start her career, but in this city, 85% of women have never received any education.

"Based on what I saw, I thought there was an environment where Afghan women could succeed, so I founded Code to Insipire," a nonprofit based in Herat that helps women learn how to code. Fereshteh also wants to build a programming lab and run an educational program to make women more tech-savvy and teach them how to build their own businesses online.

Obviously, for a non-profit organization, funding is very important. Although people and organizations are willing to donate, because Fereshteh is a refugee born in Iran, she does not have an identity document in Afghanistan. We know of no traditional money transfer service that can help you send money without confirming your identity.

When Fereshteh wanted to set up Code To Insipire and needed to transfer money to volunteers, many companies refused to provide her with services or wanted to charge her up to 50% in fees.

So she turned her attention to Bitcoin. As a result, Bitcoin's completely free transaction process changed the way the organization operates. In the end, the money was received by the volunteers, and all transaction data was stored by the blockchain.

“I am one of the founders of the Digital Citizen Fund, and we use the Bitlanders platform to reward people in Afghanistan for participating in activities. In the past, we would pay them in US dollars, but international transfers are difficult in Afghanistan now,” Fereshteh told the media.

"Most of our members are schoolgirls who are not old enough to apply for bank accounts. Even if they can apply for bank accounts, most of them don't have them because the main form of transactions in Afghanistan is still cash. PayPal is not available in Afghanistan. Using Western Union is also inconvenient because it charges a lot of fees."

So in February 2014 we started using Bitcoin.

Nicolas Cary said: "I think Bitcoin can create an equal world and is the only way for us to participate in the new financial order."

Fereshteh agrees. In addition to teaching her students to learn coding, she also shares some knowledge about digital currency. “We believe that digital currency is a tool with great potential for the unbanked in society and can enable Afghan women to gain financial independence.”

“I think a technology that allows people to interact directly is great. Not only does it save time, it also saves a lot of transaction fees. In addition, Bitcoin’s blockchain technology can store all transaction information on the network, which creates transparency and prevents corruption.”

Fereshteh is not the only one in her organization who supports Bitcoin. Her students are also supportive. In underdeveloped countries like Afghanistan, digital currency is an educational tool, especially for women who want to gain financial independence in the global economy.

"It's really going to be a big help to everyone, but especially to young girls who are held back by safety, tradition, culture, etc. One of the main missions of Code to Inspire is to help Afghan women learn how to find jobs online and get paid for it. They don't have to worry about not being able to do real work because of their gender."

Fereshteh and her Code to Inspire organization are currently seeking funding on the British crowdfunding website Indiegogo, and donations can also be made on the project page. The well-known Bitcoin company BitFury is one of the main donors. BitFury CEO Valery Vavilov is very positive about Fereshteh's work. He said: "Now that technology has become globalized, in order to make it more advanced, we need to encourage all participants. BitFury is willing to help these smart and motivated young women pursue their dreams."

Code to Insipire and Fereshteh's work confirm a point we have long known: technology changes destiny. And Bitcoin is undoubtedly an important part of contemporary technology. "Digital currency is like an equalizer, just like the early Internet," Fereshteh said. "People have not fully accepted it yet because we don't fully understand it. And this will certainly take time. The length of time depends on which country you live in and whether the country's economic system is ready. I think Afghanistan definitely needs more efforts, resources and time to implement digital currency technology."