WUNRN
AFGHANISTAN - FAWZIA KOOFI BOOK:
LETTERS TO MY DAUGHTERS
Book Website +
Personal Insights by the Author
In the vein of Infidel comes this spellbinding
memoir of survival
and courage from Afghanistan’s most popular
female politician
On the day Fawzia Koofi was born, her mother set
her under the blazing
Afghan sun to die. She was the nineteenth child
of twenty-three in a family
with seven wives, and her mother did not want
another daughter. Despite
severe burns that lasted into her teenage years,
Fawzia survived and became
the favourite child.
In Letters to My Daughters, Fawzia tells her
remarkable life story. Fawzia’s
father was an incorruptible politician strongly
attached to Afghan tradition.
When he was murdered by the mujahedeen, Fawzia’s
illiterate mother decided
to send the ten-year-old girl to school, and as
the civil war raged, Fawzia
dodged bullets and snipers to attend class,
determined to be the first person in
her family to receive an education.
She went on to marry a man she loved, and they
had two cherished daughters,
Shohra and Shaharzad. Tragically, the arrival of
the Taliban spelled an
end to her freedom. Outraged and deeply saddened
by the injustice she saw
around her, and by the tainting of her Islamic
faith, Fawzia discovered politics
herself.
Fawzia opens each chapter with a letter she has
written to her two
daughters in which she passes on her wisdom
about justice and dignity, not
knowing whether she will survive to see them
again. In writing Letters to My
Daughters, Fawzia has created a fresh take on
Afghan society and Islam, and a
gripping account of a life lived under the most
harrowing of circumstances.
fawzia koofi is a member of parliament in
Afghanistan’s northern
Badakhshan province.
Prior to this she worked with unicef and various
ngos as a women’s and children’s advocate. In
2009 she was chosen as a
Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
She will run as a presidential
candidate in 2014. She is writing the book with
Nadene Ghouri, an
award-winning bbc journalist and former Al
Jazeera reporter who specializes
in the Middle East.
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Letters to My Daughters
is Actually a Letter to the World
By Fawzia Koofi
My book, Letters to my Daughters is
actually a letter to the world. Some readers might find my story sad and
depressing and perhaps too personal because it raises questions about my family
and my life. Moreover, there may be people in my life who dislike the
revelatory nature of what I have to say about women and my community. Some of
them might see it as a complaint or betrayal. But this is a risk I was willing
to undertake for the sake of my community, my beautiful country: our
Afghanistan. When a woman complains about her life, it’s seen as a disgrace to
her family, but I did it anyway. I pinned my heart to my sleeve; I took that
risk and revealed with honesty and integrity, the truth of my journey.
I’ve come a long way passing many challenges, trials and sorrows along the
road. From my humble beginnings as an outspoken female child in a misogynist
society that did not value the female voice, to a voice for the vulnerable,
defenseless and victimized community of women in Afghanistan today. My struggle
began the day I was born.
Throughout my journey, I came to believe in myself. And I was determined to
believe that things would never be the same in my country. I wanted to effect
positive change. My entire life (and my losses) was a preparation readying me
to challenge the status quo and experience social change in Afghanistan--albeit
painful. I thought earning an education would be the key to breaking the prison
of our societies’ unequal treatment of women; I’d thought education would bring
misery to an end. My determination not only helped me, it propelled me into a
leadership role. I became a policy maker in my country, in order to provide a
better quality of life for other women: the voiceless, the vulnerable who are
being left behind.
Now, we the mothers of Afghanistan are holding a newborn child in our arms.
Taking good care of her. When she was born sometime in October 2001 we named
her DEMOCRACY. Ever vigilant, we stay awake nights, we worry during the day
making sure she is safe. We think it’s a God given miracle that we are raising
this child while the whole world backs President Karzai’s liaison with the
Taliban where we believe she, our newborn, will be handed over for execution.
The world should understand that women of Afghanistan won’t give up the little
taste of freedom that we have gained in such a very difficult, conflict-ridden
time. We quite simply cannot afford to go backwards and accept life under the
Taliban’s barbaric form of government. This is not my opinion. It’s the belief
of millions of women and men in this country. We are not relying on any other
country. We are not helpless victims cravenly asking others to look after us
and protect our rights. We are an unarmed community of women who comprise half
of Afghan society; we’ve never been involved in destruction and wars in our
country. On the contrary, we give birth; we create life. Therefore, the only
request we make of world leaders is that they desist the practice of backing
religious fanatics who threaten and enslave women--these same fanatics who
would gleefully abduct and murder our nascent DEMOCRACY. We are unarmed and
have the right to self-determination, autonomy. Being unarmed does not mean we
want others to decide our destiny for us but we expect the world to listen--so
that we may continue to nurse and nurture our infant child.
Letters to my Daughters is not a story about my life. It’s about the life
of every Afghan woman. I document our life story to draw a clear image of our
struggles so the world understands what we are enduring and what is being
threatened. The story was like an ocean on my shoulders that I carried around
for decades, for my entire life. I had a lot to say and I felt it was the right
time to speak up.