Small grants given directly to villagers have brought important changes to this corner of Afghanistan, offering a model for the country.

In Jurm, people have taken charge for themselves — using village councils and direct grants as part of an initiative called the National Solidarity Program, introduced by an Afghan ministry in 2003.

Before then, this valley had no electricity or clean water, its main crop was poppy and nearly one in 10 women died in childbirth… Today, many people have water taps, fields grow wheat and it is no longer considered shameful for a woman to go to a doctor.

(Read the article in the New York Times)