Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54913
LIVES I NOT JUST LIVELIHOODS Business schools must challenge students to serve the greater good. BY CAROLYN Y. WOO Sleep eluded me. Perhaps because I was staring out the ventilation hole in the roof of the mud shelter where I lay, a hole that also offered unim- peded entry for gnats. More likely, it was because of the decision I had just made—to stay in Afghanistan and complete my tour of local operations for Catholic Relief Services. wrote this journal entry in August 2009 during a stopover in the Ghor Province, just one of the villages I would visit during the ten days I spent traveling through Afghanistan and Pakistan. The decision to make this trip had been difficult for me, given the ongoing war and political insta- bility in the region. The decision to stay was even tougher. There had been threats against another American NGO just 30 miles away. In the next five days, there would be two more incidents, including a rocket attack at an American compound in Kabul that would wound two people and another at the airport I would soon depart from. But my decision to stay in Afghanistan was rewarded with unforgettable and uplifting encounters with many people rebuilding their lives—particularly women engaged in microventures. Their stories made lasting impressions on me and gave me hope for a better, more peaceful future in this region through the power of business enterprise. BizEd May/June 2011 41 ,