CAMPAIGN: Prosperity Candle: Baghdad War Widows Bring Light to Darkness

Lighting a candle and letting the fresh scent waft through your home can bring an instant atmosphere of peace and relaxation. With a Prosperity Candle, you can have a peaceful atmosphere and help war widows in Baghdad rebuild their lives.

Around 1 million Iraqi women have lost their husbands to Iraq's ongoing conflicts, and many other women—young and old—have lost the support of missing and killed male family members. Amber Chand and her partners, Ted Barber and Siiri Morley, are investing in and celebrating these women as a global force for peace and prosperity.

Chand says the team decided on candles because not only can they "be made easily in a kitchen despite the bombs going off outside," but they also "represent light coming out of a place of darkness."

Chand knows what it means to lose everything. Born in Uganda, she and her family became refugees after Idi Amin seized power in the 1970s. Because of her past, Prosperity Candle is a very personal endeavor.

She spoke to TakePart about some of the women who embody Prosperity Candle's mission. Wafa'a is an entrepreneur and also trains others in candle making. Her husband was killed by a mortar that dropped onto his grocery store. The bomb also injured one of her sons.

Despite calamity and death, Wafa'a remains optimistic and "makes candles of hope." She plans to one day open a small candle-making factory and use her profits to fund her children's education.

The women of Prosperity Candle are paid piecework for the number of candles they make. An entrepreneur named Nazahat earned the equivalent of 3.5 times Iraq's minimum wage by producing more than 250 candles in just a few weeks.

Prosperity Candle plans to expand their work to Haiti and Rwanda. The Spirit of Resilience Candle was created by the women in Baghdad with an accessory made by women in Haiti.

Ten percent of the candle's proceeds will be donated to Partners in Health, a medical relief organization helping Haiti heal from the 2010 earthquake.

Each candle is marked with the maker's name, and purchasers can send the artisan a little note via Prosperity Candle's website.

The notes let women in one of the most distressed parts of the world know they are not forgotten. Chand says when you buy a candle and send a note, "you become connected to the spirit of the woman who made it."