April 6, 2009 This morning as the car pulled up to our office on Street #6, three children stood outside the compound watching the car ease forward. I asked them if I could take their photo, and the older girl quietly took the other two in tow.
The past week has taken a bite out of my hope for change in Afghanistan. Afghan television stations broadcast a news clip showing the public beating in Pakistan of a 17-year old widow for the "crime" of walking with a man in public. One man held her down while another flogged her, with a crowd of cheering men looking on. Then came the news that President Karzai had signed the bill I described in a previous post which demeans and objectifies Afghan women. Life should not be so hard. Women should not have to justify their place in the culture. Men should not enjoy such dominion.
The smile on the older girls' face in this photo seems to me to hold the mystery of life as an Afghan woman, handed down through the generations.
3 comments:
Anne-your blog has been wonderful and so informative. The news about the women who are beaten for just being women makes my heart so badly. Come home safely and write a book about your adventure.
Hello - did you read this article ? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/world/asia/09ghazni.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=corruption&st=cse
well said.
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