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Kandahar Dispatches

The promise of hope

Comments (7)

Monday, October 22, 2007 | 01:29 PM ET

By Carolyn Dunn

Are Afghan women better off now than they were five years ago? That was one of the questions in a public opinion poll of Afghans throughout the country conducted by Environics in partnership with the CBC.

The poll examined many things: from how the people felt about the presence of foreign troops, including Canadians, to the direction their country is headed under the leadership of President Hamid Karzai. On Saturday, we reported the poll findings on how things have changed for women since 2002. Not surprisingly, a large majority of Afghans, 75 per cent of women and 72 per cent of men, said women are better off.

It got me thinking about my own experiences with Afghan women during my time here. On the streets of the capital, Kabul, and Kandahar, women greet me in a non-verbal way. Whether the woman is in a burka or simply a head scarf (more common in Kabul), it is a barely noticeable nod, sometimes accompanied by a hand touched to the heart. I would love nothing more than to sit down with these women and hear about their lives. Because I am always accompanied by a male photographer and often by a male translator, approaching these women to chat is virtually impossible.

Sometimes words are not even necessary. I had occasion to hop on a military convoy last year and spend the day at a United Nations refugee camp in Zhari District. This is the birthplace of the Taliban and heavy fighting had cleared the villages of most civilians. A large family arrived at the camp, having eaten only grapes and pomegranates in the previous two days. They had pooled what little money they had to get a ride to the refugee camp.

After interviewing the men, I asked permission to go to greet the women on my own. I didn’t speak their language; they didn’t speak mine. But, the women, huddled together in their van-for-hire, greeted me warmly. Each of them clasped my hand, held it for some time and then to my surprise, discreetly removed their head coverings to expose their faces to me. The difficulties of their lives were evident. The children with them were young. These were women very likely in their 20s and 30s. They looked closer to 50.

Did they think, because I was wearing body armour and a helmet that I was a soldier? Perhaps they thought I was an aid worker? The presence of a television camera may not have identified me as a journalist. There’s a good chance these women had never seen television. I will never know what these women thought I was there for. But, I will never forget the honour that I felt to be accepted into their small group and the true intimacy of our greeting — openness and dignity in the true face of vulnerability.

There is nothing vulnerable about Dr. Sima Samar. She greets me with a firm handshake. She is dressed smartly in the Afghan version of a power suit. I know immediately that I am in the presence of a force to be reckoned with. Samar now heads the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Her roots are much more humble. She has been a women’s activist in Afghanistan for decades. Fighting for equality for women with the Mujahadeen, the Taliban and still today. She ran a girls' school in Afghanistan when it was outlawed by the Taliban, simply by setting it up in a place where Taliban control was not very strong. Those girls, she tells me proudly, are now graduating from university.

It defies logic that she is alive to tell me her story. She has had a price on her head for much of the past 25 years. Her activism threatens a lot of dangerous and powerful people, she tells me. It still does today.

She eloquently makes the point, that although life is better for Afghan women, there is still a long way to go. Her hope for the little girls of Afghanistan? Self-confidence, empowerment and the ability to choose their own path in life.

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Comments (7)

Rose

Hey Carolyn,
The will of these women to persevere is amazing. I can't imagine living life under such restricted circumstances. The battles these women face every day just to exist are not to be taken for granted. They are incredible human beings and an inspiration for the entire human race.

Thanks so much for sharing this story with the rest of us and being a voice for these valiant women of Afghanistan.

Posted November 19, 2007 04:23 PM

f.m.

ottawa

Robert. Yo probably did not read much about the poll; it was carried out by afghans themselves, males and females as appropriate, not by westerners with male translators.

Posted October 29, 2007 04:27 PM

C.B.

Ottawa

Dear Carolyn,
Finally, someone is writing about the true battle to be won in Afghanistan. Even if these women couldn’t talk to you, it is obvious that you have made an important connection. Just seeing a woman doing what you are doing, even if they don’t know exactly who you are, opens up new possibilities for them.
As a former member of the CF, I remember a young First Nations girl about 20 years ago pointing to me at a ceremony and saying to an older man “See, there ARE women soldiers”. The man looked at me with disdain and said, “I don’t see any women here”. But that little girl had seen me, and I think it made a difference to her. It showed her that she could be anything she wanted to.
Thank you, Carolyn, for showing Afghan women that there are possibilities.

Posted October 24, 2007 02:05 PM

Raymond

"Self-confidence, empowerment and the ability to choose their own path in life."

These are all things I want for my daughter here in Canada. How easy it is for all of us to take it for granted when it is the far off dream for so many Afghani women.

Thanks for sharing this experience, and giving us a little perspective on the freedoms we have. May we all instill these traits in our children.

Posted October 23, 2007 05:45 PM

Wade

Toronto

It warms my heart that so many girls will have a better future. It breaks my heart that so many women have broken their hips in child birth because they do not get any vitamin D for their bones.
With 16 million females in Afghanistan, Canada should be proud to bring hope to so many.

Posted October 23, 2007 02:49 PM

robert

Is it not obvious that the polls conducted by westerners is totally inaccurate? How else are the respondents expected to reply to a loaded question? Even a woman pollster cannot get the true answer as seen here, "I would love nothing more than to sit down with these women and hear about their lives. Because I am always accompanied by a male photographer and often by a male translator, approaching these women to chat is virtually impossible." And this quote, "Did they think, because I was wearing body armour and a helmet that I was a soldier?"

Posted October 22, 2007 10:34 PM

K Hutton

Kingston

To be able to look to the future with hope not despair is a sign that something is working.

Posted October 22, 2007 10:18 PM

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