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Witnessing how empowering women transforms Afghanistan
By Jennifer A. Huber
| Afghanistan will haunt you." When these words were repeated during my 10-day visit to Kabul, I didn't understand the meaning. A year later, I still struggle to comprehend the trip as images of Afghanistan haunt me. I'm not in the military nor do I work for the government.
I'm an average American citizen believing in an equitable global community. Opportunity allowed me to participate in a small delegation last March to learn how women are making change in a post-Taliban society. The human rights group Global Exchange coordinated the trip.
After returning home, I view my world differently. Seeing American teenagers and knowing they have optimistic futures triggers my memories of Afghanistan.
I recall visiting a school supported by Afghans4Tomorrow. A month earlier, someone believing girls should not attend school had attempted to burn it down. As she walked the scorched hallway to distribute books, Dr. Roshanak Wardak, a gynecologist and the provincial governor of Wardak, proclaimed, "If they try to burn my school down 100 times, I will rebuild it 101 times." When we reached a classroom, girls with bright eyes and wide smiles crowded around us to receive new textbooks. |
 A typical Kabul street scene.
Women in burquas are off to the left.
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This scene would have occurred between 1996 and 2001 while the Taliban were in power. Then, women were forbidden to work and could not be seen. Girls could not be educated. The Taliban mandated women to wear burquas - large, shapeless coverings hiding their entire bodies including their eyes. A narrow webbed area in the cloth allowed only limited vision. Women were publicly beaten if they exposed any part of their skin, even an ankle.
Afghanistan's government has launched a plan to advance the status of women, and education is the key to the country's success. The Taliban relied on ignorance and illiteracy to remain powerful. They misused the Koran to enforce laws, saying it mandated women to be hidden. With most of the country illiterate, not many could challenge what they were told.
Educated women successfully challenged the Taliban. While sitting on her cousin's living room floor, Wardak said, "I told them [Taliban], show me where it says in the Koran [that] I need to wear a burqua. I will wear seven burquas if you can show me." Respecting Islam, the only covering she wore was a head scarf and claims to never wear a burqua.
Five years since the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and billions of dollars later, the country's women continue to be among the worst off in the world. According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs, the literacy rate of Afghan women is 14 percent. Forty percent of Afghanistan's girls attend school and most drop out. The average age of an Afghan bride is 14 years old. The life expectancy of an Afghan woman is 42 years old. According to the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization, current issues affecting women are forced marriages and domestic violence.
Empowerment evolves from education. I witnessed an example of education's success at the Oasis Salon, owned by Debbie Rodriguez, an American woman who ended up in Kabul during the U.S.-led war. She and other Westerners founded the Beauty School of Kabul.
Donations from throughout the world support the Beauty School, which serves only women. Each student attends the school for three months on a full-scholarship. Upon graduation, each receives the tools that she needs to work. Students and graduates train and work at Debbie's salon.
It may seem frivolous to care about hairstyles while the war torn country is struggling to survive, but a hairdresser makes cash gratuities. Her husband does not know how much money she is earning. As a result, husbands have learned that if they want the money, they need to respect their wives.
The Taliban are no longer in power and women are no longer required by law to wear burquas, yet, Kabul's dusty streets are dotted with blue, flowing burquas. A memento of my trip is a used burqua. I hope it belonged to a woman who was confident to live without it, akin to the western women of the 1960s who burned their bras.
I pass along a message that the people of Kabul asked me to share with you and our government: "We don't want to be forgotten."
I ask, will you forget?
Born and raised in western New York, Jennifer A. Huber spent 10 years living and working in Death Valley, the Everglades and Yellowstone National Park. That led to a career in tourism where she has spent the past six years promoting Florida. Her personal travels have taken her to Cuba, Japan and most recently, Afghanistan. She now proudly calls Tallahassee home.
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