The Afghan Women’s Writing Project
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September 9, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Launched by journalist Masha Hamilton, The Afghan Women’s Writing Project provides a platform that enables women to share their experiences.
“On a Kabul football field marked with white chalk as though ready for sport, a woman in a burqa kneels, her shadow yawning long before her. A man approaches almost casually, his Kalashnikov pointed skyward. She half-turns toward him, her left arm raised slightly, then seems to glimpse the weapon out of her peripheral vision and turns away. He lowers the muzzle to her head. The rifle kicks as he fires once, then twice more. She surrenders to the ground, a discarded blue handkerchief.” This is how journalist and novelist Masha Hamilton describes the execution of Zarmeena, a mother of seven who was murdered back in November 1999.
Zarmeena was accused by the Taliban Regime of having beaten her husband to death with a hammer while he was asleep.
It is in her memory that Ms Hamilton founded the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, an online magazine where Afghan women can express their thoughts, opinions and different experiences while being mentored by an exceptional team of novelists, journalists and university professors.
According to Women for Women.org, 79% of Afghan women are illiterate and 74% of girls drop out of school by fifth grade. Moreover, during a 2008 survey, it was highlighted that over 4,700 women - almost 87.2- had experienced at least one form of physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage in their lifetimes.
The presence of the Taliban regime in various areas in Afghanistan has aggravated the conditions of women, who, no matter where they stand financially or educationally, experience several restrictions on a daily basis.
From being banned from attending any schools or courses to riding in a taxi without a male relative, Afghan women are frequently discriminated against because of their gender.
Moreover, last June Afghanistan was named as the worst place in the world for women, according to a global survey compiled by The Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project makes sure to give a voice to Afghan women by providing an online platform where they can freely and anonymously share their stories.
Ms Hamilton, who has just returned from Afghanistan where she taught one of the workshops, talked exclusively to The Fresh Outlook explaining how the project works.
“In the online workshops, the women work on a rotating basis, with a voluntary network which is constituted of published authors, novelists and some university professors who are teaching them how to write essay, stories, reports, everything,” said Ms Hamilton, who is also author of the acclaimed novel 31 Hours.
“They write about a wide range of issues. They write about eating ice-creams, falling in love, but they certainly write about worries, problems and troubles in their lives,” added Ms Hamilton.
In ‘A Pretty Toy in My Family’s Hands’, a woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, wrote about being sold to her ex husband when she was only 16 years old.
Despite coming from an educated family, the woman was bought by her husband’s family for US$6,000.
“The next day, several relatives arrived at our house. I was not aware at first of what was going on, but then I understand they were at my home to buy me. I was such a pretty toy, a pretty toy to play with. The family that was proposing the marriage was discussing my cost with my father. At that time, I did not know I had any right to say I was not for sale,” she wrote on the platform.
In ‘Running for Parliament, Afghan Style’, E., a different writer, explains how challenging it can be running for Parliament in Afghanistan if you are a woman.
“I can’t travel to all the provinces due to security problems, and even where I am allowed to go, I cannot drive myself as a woman in Afghanistan, so I’ve hired a man as my driver. He met me early one recent morning and drove off like he was James Bond. The way from Kabul to Jallalabad is very dangerous, a tiny road weaving through huge mountains,” she wrote.
Ms Hamilton explained how important is for Afghan women to tell their stories they way they choose.
“I think that when we tell our own story, we gain strength and confidence and we are empowered. I believe that these women by telling their own stories are empowering themselves,” she said.
“When we say our stories out loud we see it and we can make changes, in a way that is right for us, and whatever change is going to come to Afghanistan and last, is going to come from the Afghans themselves and I think that the women can lead the way in their home, community and country,” she added.
It is almost impossible to understand what writing represents for Afghan Women today; it is like a silent protest against any form of gender segregation; it’s about doing something on their own without having to ask for help or permission; it is exactly what Roya, another participant of the project said:
“When I can’t write,
it is hard to say
but it is my only identity.
I can’t stop writing because
when I can’t talk
when I am very alone, I am not alone.”
For more information please check Masha Hamilton’s website, www.mashahamilton.com and The Afghan Women’s Writing Project website www.awwproject.org
By Rosaria Sgueglia
[Image courtesy of Cheney Orr]
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