Afghan Women Writer's Project - Heroines in the Making

The next time I hear a writer whine about how hard it is to be a writer, or how difficult their lives are that they can't find time to write, or how much struggle there is in being a creative person—I'm going to punch them in the nose. And then I'm going to make them read every single blog on the Afghan Women's Writers Project blog site.

You think you have it bad? You think working a job, raising a family, working with reduced income and peevish spouses who pout because you spend too much time writing are all too much to bear? Well, my dears, how about this:

• Being told by your brothers they'll cut your legs off unless you stop writing.
• Being told if you try to leave or escape then they'll beat your mother to death.
• Being told by the Taliban to quite your job because you are a woman and you shouldn't be working, and if you don't quite they will kidnap you, your, brother and your father and KILL EVERYONE.
• Being married off to some old fart in your village for six thousand dollars and then being told you'll have to stop writing OR ELSE.
• Being afraid to go to an Internet cafe to write because women aren't allowed to be in such a place, and if you are spotted then you and your family will have to move to a new city because you'll ALL BE KILLED.

Okay you poor, struggling artist ... do you still want to complain? God I hope not, because I'll have to punch you in the nose!

I'm frustrated and in despair for these women. But, I'm also inspired, emboldened, out-raged, in-raged, liberated and humbled by their courage and spirit. They are the heroines and the role models writers everywhere can look to for the promise of the future. Creative people have always been on the cutting edge of freedom and insurgency, both politically and spiritually. Male or female, we all have something to learn from what the Afghan women are teaching us. The word is mightier than the sword, or the burqa, or the Taliban. They might cut off our heads, cut off our legs, murder our families, and rape us (yes, they do that to men and women), but they will lose. They have already lost. The women writers of Afghanistan make this obvious.

These women are my sisters. And I'm honored to be a part of that family ... even if I have never met them, or may never meet them. Fight for freedom, fight for dignity and fight for voice. Support the Afghan Women's Writing Project. Read their blogs, donate money, help us get them computers so they can write from home using safe Internet connections. For a little money we can send a message to the dark forces of the world that you cannot silence human dignity!

Here is information you can use to act, I ask you to do what you can:

Blog Site: http://www.awwproject.org/

Fight the good fight and add a few sisters to your family.

The Afghan Women's Writing Project

It is my honor to be involved with this mighty effort! These are courageous, inspiring, and talented women whose voices need to be heard, and with help from Afghan Women’s Writing Project they will be! SUPPORT AFGHAN WOMEN WRITERS!

Below is some basic info from the project's blog site:

The Women
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project began as an idea during novelist Masha Hamilton’s last trip to Afghanistan in November 2008. Her interest in Afghanistan was sparked in the late 1990s during the Taliban period, when she understood it was one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Masha first visited the country in 2004, and was awed and inspired by the resolute courage of the women she met. When she returned, she saw doors were closing and life was again becoming more difficult, especially for women. She began to fear we could lose access to the voices of Afghan women if we didn’t act soon. The Afghan Women’s Writing Project is aimed at allowing Afghan women to have a direct voice in the world, not filtered through male relatives or members of the media. Many of these Afghan women have to make extreme efforts to gain computer access in order to submit their writings, in English, to the project.

The Teachers
The project reaches out to talented and generous women author/teachers here in the United States and engages them, on a volunteer, rotating basis, to teach Afghan women online from Afghanistan. (We are using women teachers solely due to cultural sensitivities in Afghanistan.) Through this ongoing interaction, we hope to encourage the women to develop their voices and share their stories. Portions of the work will be put on a blog on a regular basis. Due to security concerns, we will use the Afghan women writers’ first names only, editing out all names of family and friends and removing locators. Nevertheless, the existence of the blog in the world is a key part of the project for several reasons. First, it is intended to instill a sense of pride for these women. Secondly, it is also intended to educate us, the teachers and readers of the blog, about what the Afghan women’s childhoods and young adulthoods were like under the Taliban, and what they feel about current conditions in their country. The blog is also meant to be a record of the project itself. Finally, it is intended to provide a positive link between Afghans and Americans at a time when those relationships have to some degree soured.

The Project

Everyone involved in the project has donated their time and energy, from Jeff Lyons, the California-based blog master, to Rose Daniels in Brooklyn, NY, who contributed blog design, to Terry Dougherty, the Indiana-based technical specialist who worked tirelessly to set up the online classrooms. The author/teachers themselves are teaching pro bono, making time in already very busy schedules. In finding the writers in Afghanistan, Masha sought the guidance and advice primarily of American Ted Achilles, founder of SOLA (School of Leadership, Afghanistan), who has been living for more than five years in Kabul and Kandahar. She also sought advice from other American friends living there who have connections with young writers at Kabul University. Sally Goodrich, of the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation, provided the link to Ted Achilles and others. Mrs. Goodrich, along with her husband Don, supports Afghan students here in the U.S., and has spearheaded the building of a girls’ school in Afghanistan.