By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sweet smells envelop Kim Peacock and Shahrbanoo Rezai as they walk by big bowls of batter for divinity candy and machines bagging honey-roasted peanuts.

Rezai is familiar with the products but not the packaging.

"Which one is more economical?" she asks, holding a round plastic container and pointing to the bags.

"The plastic bags are the fastest and cheapest to fill," Peacock says.

Such information could help Rezai grow her almond-selling business 7,700 miles away.

She is from Afghanistan and wants to learn all she can from Peacock, who owns GNS Foods Inc., a nut-roasting and candy-making company in Arlington. At Rezai's business, the packaging is done by hand.

Rezai is one of 29 women entrepreneurs from Afghanistan and Rwanda who are visiting the United States as part of the 3-year-old Peace Through Business program sponsored by the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women. Six of the women, including Rezai, recently shadowed Dallas-Fort Worth women who own or operate similar businesses.

Their training began this spring with eight weeks of mini-MBA classes in their home countries. They arrived here three weeks ago for leadership development, mentoring and the first International Women's Economic Summit, at Northwood University in Cedar Hill. The 29 women graduate today in a ceremony at the Women's Museum in Fair Park.

Hope

The theory is that they will gain skills and make contacts to help sustain their businesses, create jobs and provide an option to poverty and violence in their countries. They already have leadership skills, but they need help creating business plans, innovating and understanding financials, said Terry Neese, chief executive of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, based in Oklahoma City.

"These women have great determination to rebuild their community and their country," Neese said. "I believe we're providing the education and mentoring to last a lifetime."

The women are part of a surge in female entrepreneurialism that's helping to revive countries such as Afghanistan and Rwanda after years of war and poverty.

"Remember, prior to [the Soviet invasion in] 1979, most professionals in Afghanistan were women," said Qasim Tarin, co-founder of the Afghan Business Network, a year-old group based in Livermore, Calif., that has helped two dozen Afghans to start businesses. "Under the Taliban regime, those rights have been taken away."

In the World Bank's 2009 report on the ease of doing business in 181 countries, Rwanda ranked 139th. Afghanistan was No. 162.

Problems such as unreliable power, unpaved streets and spotty Internet service still hamper business in those countries.

Reality

Rezai, 24, lives in the poor Daikundi province in central Afghanistan. She was born in Iran, where most of her family remains, and moved to Afghanistan in 2005.

Rezai buys almonds from local farmers and sells them at market. She said her five-employee business, Tak Banoo Co., posted about $5,000 in revenue in its first year.

Peacock's 19-year-old company sells more than 4 million pounds of nuts, candy and snacks to retailers, airlines and other businesses. GNS Foods has 35 employees and annual sales of $7.5 million.

Peacock, 50, jumped at the chance to share her business acumen with someone from Afghanistan."I'm learning a lot about Afghanistan," she said. "It's been fascinating."

Rezai, who took notes in a black book, isn't sure how much of what she's learned will translate back home. She said she faces obstacles such as violence, corruption and poor roads.

"It's so different here," said Rezai. "When I go to the Kabul market, all of the people are men. When they see a woman walking around, they don't see the good things a woman is doing. It's difficult to be accepted among the men."

Still, she said, "I learned a lot from Kim. She's a very strong leader. I learned how to treat employees and to motivate them for good work."

The future

The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women requires the women to communicate with their mentors for at least a year, help other women at home and report quarterly revenue and employment.

Upon returning to Afghanistan, Rezai plans to form Afghan Peace Through Business with other women to build a support network. She didn't vote last week in Afghanistan's presidential election, but she hopes her country can provide more security, infrastructure and support of women.

Peacock hopes she helped Rezai.

"It's hard to predict what impact you'll have on someone," she said. "I'm better off focusing on the here and now, and imparting as much information as I can."