More gripping work was produced by the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP) writers this month, including Rabia’s edge-of-your-seat piece about crossing paths with the Taliban, Mahnaz’s heartbreaking essay about the night she got badly burned and its impact on her life, Roya’s poem about losing her identity in the kitchen, and many others. The voices of these women continue to blossom, as they continue to move and inspire us.
As part of our ongoing effort to support and nurture these voices, our Kabul team is setting up a writing corner for our Afghan writers in the coming days. The site, to open this month, is located in a small, nondescript apartment building in Afghanistan’s capital, unmarked from the outside and in one of Kabul’s safer neighborhoods. A building guard lives on the premises. Here, our writers will be able to gather to send their poems and essays, read books, and partake in community along with chai. This is the prototype of what we hope will eventually be Afghanistan’s first women-only Internet café.
Enormous thanks goes to our Kabul team for their volunteer work, and to Melissa
Pritchard’s Ashton Goodman Fund for buying the books that will be used at this writers’ nest, along with Internet connections for our writers in Kabul and elsewhere. It is a major step forward in providing support to our women as security issues grow.
To keep this space up and running, we ask your continued help. No donation is too small. To earmark any donation for this space, note “Writing Corner.” And if you have an idea or want help thinking about a holiday fundraiser, feel free to reach out to us.
Thanks to all of you who comment on the women’s pieces and spread the word via blogs, Twitter and Facebook. They feel your support. To understand how meaningful your contributions are, we share this comment received from one of the writers: “With all the positive changes, once again let me thank you for the opportunity you gave us, to have our voices, and to express myself with my writings. If you didn’t start the project, I was never here, I was never ever here, the place where I am now. Thank you. With love and respect, Your Roya.”
The New York State Division of Human Rights last month recognized AWWP at a ceremony on Manhattan, applauding its contribution to human rights. In addition,a number of blog and news sites highlighted the work of our women and the project; see below for the links. Some AWWP work was included in a performance of women’s voices held in New York City on Oct. 8 at the Abrazo Interno Gallery.
Finally, AWWP is seeking a few more volunteers for PR and fundraising committees; time commitments start as low as eight hours a month. Anyone with specific goals in these areas who wants a bit more involvement with the project, please email Acting Director Rachel de Baere at awwproject@yahoo.com. Thanks for your continued support.
A Nest of Taliban
All of a sudden, through the bars of the burqa, I saw a herd of Talib coming toward us on their bikes. I felt like someone dropped a bucket of freezing water on me. My hands were cold; I felt weak in the knees. Wearing black clothes, with long hair, beards and black goggles, they looked like devils. They carried AK-47s and RPGs in their hands, and many different weapons on their shoulders.
My mom presses my hand on hers and tries to give me strength. She is not crying anymore but I can see her sad face the second I open my eyes. She says, “We will go to the doctor in the early morning, don’t worry.” My head is on her lap. It gives me confidence and a bit of peace from the torturing pain. Later, my mom tells me she didn’t take me to the hospital because my cousins would not allow her to go due to fear of the Taliban.
My identity is hiding somewhere in the kitchen
Where destiny told me to be.
If you look for it
Maybe you could find it
On my father’s favorite plate?
In my brother’s soup bowl?
When I resisted his decision, my father shouted, “I didn’t send you to become this egoist and stand against my decisions. What I say is our traditional rule! Your job is to obey! Is this what you have learned in five years – to be impolite talking with your elders?”
Kendall Hunter wrote a magnificent piece about AWWP for Tonic.
Kami Wicoff wrote a beautiful article about AWWP for SheWrites.
Mary Reed wrote wonderfully about AWWP for BookBrowse.
Roya’s “The Meaning of Democracy” was featured on the arabnewsblog.
Women of History were kind enough to mention AWWP. If you are a history buff you will love this site.
Jeff Mucciarone at Hippo Press mentioned the dramatic reading of AWWP writers at the Goffstown Public Library in New Hampshire on September 30.
Ned Hamson is a big supporter of AWWP and mentions our writers frequently.
A Word From Our Mentors
Mary Reed has a Master’s Degree in English from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. She has published articles in “Youth!” and “Parenting for High Potential” magazines and the “Acta Astronautica” journal. Currently she is content being a stay-at-home mom and volunteering at AWWP. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is in the process of moving back to the California Bay Area next spring.
The Serendipity of Volunteering as a Mentor for AWWP
Serendipity is defined as “the phenomenon of finding valuable things not sought for”.When I volunteered to be a mentor for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, I had no idea that I would be the one receiving the lesson and the lasting gifts from this experience.I expected to help these courageous and talented women with their stories, but what I got, in addition, was a feeling that I had made a difference in a few women’s lives.In my heart, I know what I did is important, not just for them, but for our world as a whole.
Season Harper-Fox has published fiction, poetry and reviews in OnTheBus, Primavera, The Santa Clara Review, FRiGG Magazine, Verbsap, and other journals. She is on the fiction faculty of NYC’s Gotham Writers’ Workshop and is currently at work on a memoir.
The determination to write, no matter what. That’s what the women of AWWP have given me through their examples. Interacting with these dedicated writers feeds in me the growing awareness of how special it is to be able to sit down at my keyboard and simply write. Though I love writing, in the past there were times when I begrudged it a little as being too much like work. Too this. Too that. Now I see it for what it truly can be: A privilege and a gift.
Donations
Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers:
Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it.
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project has filed for non-profit with 501(c)3 status. Your donation is tax deductible.
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women – too often silenced – to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy as mentors. Additionally, the tireless contributions of these volunteers:
Jeff Lyons, Creative Outreach Director Stefan Cooke, Webmaster and Website Designer
Jordan Schneider, Online Magazine Editing Coordinator
Elisabeth Lehr, Workshop Program Coordinator Tahmina Popaland Tina Singleton, Liaisons in Afghanistan Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine, Photography Valerie Wallace, Online Magazine Poetry Editor, Facebook and Newsletter Coordinator
Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites.
To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support.
is setting up a writing corner for our Afghan writers in the coming days. The site, to open this month, is located in a small, nondescript apartment building in Afghanistan’s capital, unmarked from the outside and in one of Kabul’s safer neighborhoods. A building guard lives on the premises. Here, our writers will be able to gather to send their poems and essays, read books, and partake in community along with chai. This is the prototype of what we hope will eventually be Afghanistan’s first women-only Internet café.
Enormous thanks goes to our Kabul team for their volunteer work, and to Melissa 
The New York State Division of Human Rights last month recognized AWWP at a ceremony on Manhattan, applauding its contribution to human rights. In addition,a number of blog and news sites highlighted the work of our women and the project; see below for the links. Some AWWP work was included in a performance of women’s voices held in New York City on Oct. 8 at the Abrazo Interno Gallery.
