The foundation’s objective is to support practical initiatives in the Middle East which help individuals and families to become economically self-sufficient. While our particular interest is microfinance, we are willing to fund other small-scale programs which operate at a local level to provide a stable income and lifestyle for communities facing entrenched poverty and unemployment.

Our first grant recipient, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, is working with local potters in Kabul to preserve their ancient traditions and to create an international market for their products. This project helps a group of individuals to support itself on a long-term basis, and we are looking for other endeavors which similarly create a positive, lasting social impact at the local level.

We aim to pursue these goals without disrupting the underlying communities or imposing any particular ideology upon them. While we endorse the principles of democracy and gender equality, we hope to nurture them from the bottom up. It is also our belief that with a stable livelihood, people are far less likely to fall prey to violent and self-destructive interpretations of their faith. We believe that the appeal of radical ideologies often derives from a general sense of desperation which can be effectively combated by working slowly but tenaciously to provide individual communities with a secure hope for the future.