"Three decades of war destroyed life for Afghans in this village," Sarvenaz says. "Since the Taliban, it has been a life of hardship because they burned the farmers' lands and destroyed their crops. But since MEDA came to my village, with the Through the Garden Gate project, I have been able to fulfill all my dreams – I built my house, an underground storage facility for village produce, and have a greenhouse. Now I bought a car!"

Sarvenaz is a Village Facilitator in the MEDA project, meaning she connects the women who are "lead farmers" with resources and training from MEDA. She says she will use her car for business. She adds: “I am the first woman driving in Parwan province! It is a great source of pride for me to be such a strong and independent woman. And I’m getting more respect for being so, too. MEDA brought many opportunities for me. I have also been able to find my father, who was missing for a long time, and he is very proud of me!”