Over the years, I have met different people: all had something to say and share, especially the women outside the Kabul clouds. Some were amazing and some were so sad as to put you in thoughts for days. Sometimes I couldn’t find an image for the women I met and I believe that Allah has given them supernatural powers. Powers that don’t only help them do magic, but powers that made them Afghan women.

I am writing to people living outside our Afghan life. To tell you what you never knew about, to change your assumptions about Afghan women.

We Afghan women don’t always face the worst.

The times are gone when the women in Afghanistan have to sit at home and wait for the male member to earn for the family. Life was dreadful and a single beam of hope was more than enough for us. Life changed and everything turned into hopes of dreams and success.

The women got wings, letting them fly into the blue sky of Afghanistan for the first time in their lifetimes.

They got jobs, they got parliament seats, they got school admissions, they became media representatives, they became champions, they became artists, they became role models, they became activists. These are the Afghan women—women who faced hardness and cruelty, but still didn’t give up their struggle for freedom.

Life changes with a single stroke of struggle and we can reach from the ground to the highest peak of the mountain. What we are today—good or bad—we ourselves are responsible for it.

People in Afghanistan live a normal life going to jobs, attending schools, picnics and parties, shopping and sightseeing. Bomb attacks, killings, these can never stop the Afghans from making their lives better.

The days are gone when we have to sit at home and blink at the bulb if there is no electricity. Now people will knock on the door of the electrical department asking why?

The days are gone when people are kicked out of their jobs. Now they will stand and ask why?

The days are gone when women are beaten up. Now they seek their rights, struggle for a better life, and ask the Afghan law to support them.

This courage lies with some, but each drop of rain will one day turn into an ocean of dreams.

We are no longer weak. We are the mothers of the future and what mistakes our mothers made we will not repeat. We will not let anyone steal our dreams: we will snatch them back and tell them this isn’t yours.

We will always empower ourselves and tell the male majority that we are no longer for sale.

We will choose what is for our good. We will not let others identify our needs and interests.

Women of the world, come and join Afghan women so they know they are not alone. We have the world behind us and we are living in our hopes. We have the international laws protecting us. We are the Afghan women.

With affection, love and hope,

Pakiza

Photo: Alison Wright/Corbis