Afghan Women

A poem by F. Bakhtary I know a girl with a silent face but shouting inside. I know a girl with a smile on her face while crying in her heart. I know a girl, who understands others but has never been understood. I know a girl who fights for…

An Afghan woman, an aspiring doctor narrates the challenges girls and women are facing due to school closures and restrictions and her hopes of a ‘free country’ — By Arezo* as told to Samuel Hall team This first-person narrative is a part of our ‘Everyday Women Leaders Series’ which highlights everyday women leaders, their stories, and their hopes. This is the third story of our series. Read the others here.

An internally displaced Afghan woman who is a wakil gozar (community leader) recounts the life of her community — By Shazia* as told to Samuel Hall Staff This first-person narrative is a part of our ‘Everyday Women Leaders Series’ which highlights everyday women leaders, their stories, and their hopes. This is the second story of our series. Read the other stories here. I have been an internally displaced person…

The name has hung like a storm cloud over our horizon for 20 years, though it remains closer for some even as it fades into our collective memory. A few of my teenaged relatives enlisted after 9/11. One became a Marine and deployed to Afghanistan. He did convoy duty or…

An Essay by Katayuon Kosha My name is Katayuon Kosha. I am from Afghanistan and my nationality is Hazara. I was born in 2004 in one of the remote provinces of Afghanistan. I am 18 years old and the oldest child in my family. Before the Taliban came, I used…

Prologue I spent the entire year of 2016 dodging slippers my mother threw at me. It’s a favorite educational aid of displeased Pashtun mothers: slippers fly in your direction most of your childhood, especially if, like me, you’re less than obedient and opinionated to no end. …