Spotlight on Extraordinary Women - Nasima Payman from Kabul, Afghanistan

Nasima Payman - Manager at Zarif Design, Kabul, Afghanistan

@zarifnyc & www.zarifdesign.com

     Nasima was born in Kabul in 1958 and lives today with her family consisting of five, her brother who is retired, sister in law and her nephew and wife. She lives in the 16th district of Kabul province. She got married at the age of 20. After five months of marriage, her husband was arrested and jailed for sixteen months. He died in jail because of a sickness he had. Despite this difficult start, she was resilient and continued her life and aimed to support her family.
     She studied at the Kabul University and became a teacher for 5 years. She has always been the breadwinner of the family. She has been working about sixteen years in different positions in the education sector, but unfortunately during the Taliban she was no longer allowed to practice and therefore stayed at home. In 2005, after the Taliban left Kabul, she started working with Parsa organization as a sales manager. From 2005 until now she has been working with Zarif Design as a manager.
     During the Taliban period, she faced a lot of challenges. While working at Parsa, one day the Taliban found out about their activities and arrested some of the workers and the head of the company. She was lucky to have left for home just before they came. After some time the workers and the head of the company were free from jail. The head of the company transferred the company to Pakistan. Then Nasima left Kabul and went to Pakistan to work in Parsa.
    Currently Nasima is at the core of Zarif Design in Kabul. She is the pillar in managing the whole operation, keeping the business going with her special skills of great wisdom and patience. As a teacher she has the leadership needed to keep the team together and stay committed despite the challenges faced in everyday life.