Review
This moving tribute profiles 40 Afghan women who have tried to transform their lives since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Among those interviewed are an Olympic athlete, a TV journalist, a fortune-teller, and an abused wife. Whether urban or rural, the women all reveal a determination and courage that was hidden for years under full-length burkas and gender repression. Each interview is accompanied by a stunning full-page photograph that captures the pride each individual feels in her new life. The women's words mirror this pride and hope for a future that they know is still tenuous. Certain themes emerge again and again-the right to an education, the right to work. The book was first conceived in 2003, and an earlier version, Parwana, was published in Afghanistan's two main languages, Dari and Pashtu, and distributed to all-girls' high schools and women's centers in the country. Three of the women interviewed for the book have died-one in childbirth and two murdered. For Western teens who may not fully comprehend the courage it takes for a woman to step out-side her house, go to school, or get a job, the book shines a light on a special breed of heroines. (Pat Bangs
Fairfax County Public Library, VA )
From the Inside Flap
THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN are breaking out of the darkness of oppression and creating change in their society to make a better tomorrow for themselves and their daughters. Women of Courage takes an intimate look at courageous women from all walks of life who are facing the future with hope despite their nation's long history of oppression and violence. With the fall of the Taliban, free elections, and a new constitution, the women of Afghanistan suddenly had freedoms that had long been kept from them. These women-a university student, a policewoman, a housewife, a photojournalist, a filmmaker, a politician, a paratrooper, an Olympic athlete, and many others-are taking those freedoms and working to ensure that all women throughout their country are afforded their constitutional rights, including education and economic empowerment. The compelling photographs in Women of Courage introduce you to these women and unfiltered interviews let you hear the voices of women who are literally transforming the world in which they live one day at a time. Listen to their stories in their own words and be inspired by their courage and optimism.
KATHERINE KIVIAT, born and raised in New York City, is a Middle East-based documentary photographer and photojournalist who has covered diverse subjects, including American Gypsies, Indian sex workers, the first free presidential elections in Afghanistan, and the Palestinian elections that brought Hamas to power in January 2006. For almost three years, Kiviat based herself in Kabul, where she taught photojournalism to women and girls and focused her photography on the changing role of Afghan women. Kiviat has worked for numerous international publications, including Fortune, Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times Magazine.
SCOTT HEIDLER began his journalism career at CNN Washington just before the Gulf War in 1991. He is currently a Middle East Correspondent reporting for Fox News Radio and TV. In his broadcast and print journalistic career, he has covered the politics and conflicts in Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Afghanistan. He was also based in Pakistan and Central America for feature/human interest assignments that included the National Geographic Channel. Scott has also used his skills working for humanitarian organizations in Guatemala, Kosovo, Macedonia and Mongolia. KIVIAT AND HEIDLER and their dog Tazi from Kabul are based in both Jerusalem and New York City. In 2005 they published a version of Women of Courage in Afghanistan called Parwana that was distributed to girls' high schools and women's centers in all thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan.
