Debbie Rodriguez
Encyclopedia
Debbie Rodriguez is an American
author and hairdresser, who wrote a best-selling book regarding her experience in Afghanistan
managing the Kabul Beauty School.
Rodriguez wrote a book about her experience, entitled Kabul Beauty School. The book became a best seller, and at one point, it was slated to become a movie, with Sandra Bullock
playing the lead. In the book, Rodriguez portrays herself as the founder and main force behind the success of the beauty school and a savior for some of the women who trained there. However, other women who were also involved at the founding of the Kabul Beauty School say the book is filled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies, that events did not unfold the way Rodriguez depicts them, and that she exaggerated her role in the formation of the school. They say that she moved the school from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (Afghanistan) to the house she shared with her Afghan husband, and that she took over the school for personal gain. Some of the women who worked at the beauty school said that, because of the publication of the book and the details it revealed about them, their lives had been put in danger. Some also claimed that Rodriguez had not made good on promises for financial support and other help.
In 2002, Rodriguez married an Afghan, Samer Mohammad Abdul Khan, who works for Afghan warlord
Abdul Rashid Dostum. She had known Khan for 20 days before the marriage, though they don’t speak the same language and he had a wife in Saudi Arabia, with whom he retained a romantic relationship; his first wife became pregnant with his eighth child while he was married to Rodriguez. The marriage with Rodriguez was reported as a happy one as late as April 2007, but soon after, she had to flee Afghanistan.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and hairdresser, who wrote a best-selling book regarding her experience in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
managing the Kabul Beauty School.
Biography
Deborah Rodriguez, a hairdresser, went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Soon after arriving, she became involved in the set up of a beauty school training program to certify Afghan women to work in and set up their own beauty parlors.Rodriguez wrote a book about her experience, entitled Kabul Beauty School. The book became a best seller, and at one point, it was slated to become a movie, with Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
playing the lead. In the book, Rodriguez portrays herself as the founder and main force behind the success of the beauty school and a savior for some of the women who trained there. However, other women who were also involved at the founding of the Kabul Beauty School say the book is filled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies, that events did not unfold the way Rodriguez depicts them, and that she exaggerated her role in the formation of the school. They say that she moved the school from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (Afghanistan) to the house she shared with her Afghan husband, and that she took over the school for personal gain. Some of the women who worked at the beauty school said that, because of the publication of the book and the details it revealed about them, their lives had been put in danger. Some also claimed that Rodriguez had not made good on promises for financial support and other help.
In 2002, Rodriguez married an Afghan, Samer Mohammad Abdul Khan, who works for Afghan warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
Abdul Rashid Dostum. She had known Khan for 20 days before the marriage, though they don’t speak the same language and he had a wife in Saudi Arabia, with whom he retained a romantic relationship; his first wife became pregnant with his eighth child while he was married to Rodriguez. The marriage with Rodriguez was reported as a happy one as late as April 2007, but soon after, she had to flee Afghanistan.
See also
- Abdul Rashid Dostum
- Greg MortensonGreg MortensonGreg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...
- Sarah Chayes
- Economic developmentEconomic developmentEconomic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
- International developmentInternational developmentInternational development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
- Ministry of Women's Affairs (Afghanistan)
- Women in AfghanistanWomen in AfghanistanWomen's rights in Afghanistan have suffered through tremendous turmoil in the last three decades or in the last quarter of the past century...