We believe the right to tell one’s story is a human right. The volunteer-based AWWP empowers oft-silenced Afghan women to share their voices with the world.
A writer (L) and AWWP Director Rachel de Baere, August 2010.
Issue 23
May 2011
Greetings!
AWWP sessions continue at the Women’s Writing Hut, in an undisclosed location in Kabul, for both writing workshops and reading salons. This physical setting offers tangible support for the voices of Afghan women. Please consider donating to pay for rent or Internet service to keep this secret café open for our writers, as well as to support our expanding programs. We continue to offer writing workshops in three secure online classrooms. In the coming weeks, we are readying to introduce workshops and oral histories for women in Dari and Pashtu.
And as always, please remember to comment on our website to encourage these brave writers, many who write in secret and some who walk miles to send us their work.
Destiny Awaits: A Lyric Essay
Afghanistan: Farah Province Balabluk District: Shewan village
Tank fire overwhelms the Soviet plane.
The mother calls for her baby. She stares, her eyes watching everything.
Her baby remains opaque.
Dark night is everywhere, silent, secret.
By Nasima
Note: This is Nasima’s first contribution to AWWP.
As I grew up, I even hated myself for being a girl and, in the future, a woman. When I reached seven years old, I told my father, “Dad, I will work for you the same as a son and then people will say to you, ‘Ohhh what a brave daughter you have.’ “
I first saw my husband at the engagement ceremony,” she remembers. “He was older than my father, with a long white beard. I thought he was a friend of my grandfather.”
The security situation can be difficult for many women in Afghanistan, especially those who are determined to further their education or those who frankly tell their stories. Out of concern for their safety, AWWP will not use family names or specific locators.
The right to tell one’s story is a human right.
With gratitude for sharing in our commitment to bring forward the voices and stories
If you would like information on the project, or how to donate money, time, computer resources, or any kind of technical/business expertise that might help promote and strengthen The Afghan Women’s Writing Project’saims and goals, then please contact us at:
