March 7th, 2010
There is so much going on and so much to say, but when I get home at night, I’m exhausted. The Global Exchange tour will be over soon and I’ll have more time to write. Soon I’ll be interviewing the top Afghan woman general, a videographer who works for Tolo TV, a woman basketball player who once played in Washington DC, some orphan girl scouts and lots more. I’m excited! The lack of rain today is a definite blessing for me, but I don’t understand how they can have muddy streets and, at the same time, so much dust in the air. Downtown, people are starting to wear dust masks to protect themselves.
Posted in Afghan Women's Project, AWP 2010, Other, women | Comments Off on Upcoming interviews
March 2nd, 2010
A few quick observations:
Flying into the airport, I noticed that the giant graveyard of dead airplanes has been cleared out.
Giant billboards of Northern Alliance Commander Massoud are gone, but there is a huge memorial for him with a more tastefully small picture in the front. When I was getting ready to leave in ’03 I was told that this was about to be built and rumors were going around that it would soon be blown up.
Traffic was horrible and crazy in ’03 but now there are thousands more drivers on the road. The crazy driving would be scary except that you can’t go faster than 5-10mph. I’m amazed at their reflexes.
Lots of new “palaces” intermixed with ruins or mud brick houses. There never was any zoning, and now there are lots more new buildings.
Didn’t see many women on the street, but still fewer than half of them were wearing burkas. Saw several women in Iranian chadors in Kabul for the first time. Mostly the women wear large or medium sized scarves. I’m sure this is different in different parts of town.
Had some interesting meetings today that I’ll fill you in on next time.
Posted in Other | Comments Off on Made it to Kabul!
February 3rd, 2010
And when I go, I’d like to take small (4 mp+) cameras to give to RAWA to help them document human rights abuses against women. If you got a new camera over the holidays and would like to put your old one to good use, leave me a message or send an email and I’ll tell you where to send it.
Afghan women thank you.
Posted in Afghan Women's Project, AWP 2010, education, women | 1 Comment »
January 7th, 2010
Peggy will be in Afghanistan March 1 through May 15th conducting new interviews and getting updates on women already in her exhibit. Join her vicariously by subscribing to her blog. Book presentations early to ensure availability in Peggy’s fall speaking season.
Iraqi Refugee Women’s Project blog
Posted in AWP 2010 | 3 Comments »
June 10th, 2007
Um Khalid has an ideal situation for an Iraqi refugee. She’s an engineer working in the private sector who’s married to a Jordanian Sunni. She had a satisfying life living in Amman, Jordan that was quite balanced between caring for her kids and working in their family “water purification device” business. However, as prices got higher in Jordan following “The Kuwait War” and her longing for her homeland got more intense, her family moved to Baghdad. Even during the sanctions, they did well economically since they had their own company. Those who were working for the government at that time had their salaries reduced to a pittance, which of course led to widespread corruption. Read more »
Posted in Iraq, Iraqi Refugee Women's Project, Iraqi women, women | 1 Comment »
June 3rd, 2007
Rawa is Um Rami’s oldest daughter. Her older brother is 19, she is 16 and her other brothers and sisters are eight and eleven. I met her while at Zahra’s house one day when she and her mother dropped by. While Um Rami and Zahra were working out some plans, Rawa began plying me with questions about English. Her English and my Arabic were at about the same level, so we had a great time trying to understand each other and exchanging vocabulary. Read more »
Posted in education, Iraq, Iraqi Refugee Women's Project, Iraqi women | 2 Comments »
May 28th, 2007
A few weeks ago I said I’d write about different groups having different perspectives.
My last interview in Jordan was unsettling. It wasn’t with a woman but a sweet, gentle man who had worked as a translator for the US forces. This man, Abu Muber* loves America, and during his year working with the US soldiers he was treated with more respect than he had ever received in his life. He’d worked for the British and been treated like a low-level lackey and so quit after a few months to translate for the Americans. He was a great asset, translating the deeper meanings and giving insight into the Iraqi culture and mind-set rather than just giving verbatim translations. In mid-2004, an envelope with three bullets in it was delivered to his house. He had been discovered to be a collaborator and the extra bullets were a warning that it wasn’t only he who was at risk. So, he quit and moved his family to Jordan where he’s currently waiting for his visa application to be processed. It costs $565 or $755 per person, depending on the type of immigrant visa one applies for. The truth is that although he has many glowing recommendations, he is unlikely to get his wish and his money will be wasted. Read more »
Posted in Iraq, Iraqi Refugee Women's Project | Comments Off on Differing Perspectives
May 20th, 2007
Naghia was eleven and living in Baghdad when the Iran-Iraq war broke out. Her father owned a restaurant, but lost it when he was drafted to fight. Being Chaldean Christian, they were otherwise left alone by Saddam’s regime. Even so, times got hard economically, and by the time Naghia got her BA in store management, she had to abandon plans for a Masters degree and work to help support her family. She got a job managing the stores of the Department of Education, earning a decent salary. In the early 90’s however, during the sanctions, her pay was reduced to the equivalent of $2.00 a month, both because the government couldn’t afford to pay her, coupled with the devaluation of the Iraqi Dinar. So, she quit and began doing volunteer work at the church, helping poor families as a kind of case-worker. In turn they helped her and her family. About 11 years ago, her sister had an opportunity to go to the Netherlands and abandoned her son to Naghia’s care. When some of Saddam’s men had begun questioning her father about what he may have overheard as proprietor of his restaurant, and made it clear that they would all suffer if he didn’t cooperate, he decided that he’d rather leave than inform. Read more »
Posted in Iraqi Refugee Women's Project, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
May 14th, 2007
Isra was born into an upper middle class family. Her father worked in the oil industry under Saddam. They lived in Basra, in the southern part of Iraq by the Kuwaiti border, until she was 11. She had a nice, carefree life; going to social clubs, swimming, hanging out with her friends and going to school. When the Iran-Iraq war began in 1980, her father was transferred to Baghdad. In some ways the war didn’t affect her external life too much; she still continued with school, she made new friends and lived her teenaged-life. On the other hand, it deeply saddened her since she lost a lot of relatives who were sent off to fight in that war. She’s angry about that war that “was for no reason”. Read more »
Posted in Iraqi Refugee Women's Project, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Isra and life in the "good old days"
May 6th, 2007
Yesterday, I visited with Jamila, the 61 year-old mother of Ali*, an ex-translator for the US military. Jamila is very unique, both in her creative personality as well as the fact that both of her parents and also her grandfather (born in 1900) were well educated. She was at a clinic when she met the sister of her future husband. The sister reported back that she had found a suitable marriage candidate. His family further investigated her family and decided that they were suitable, so he paid her a visit to ask for her hand. Everyone agreed because he was also educated and seemed kindly. Over the course of the next 3 years, they got to know each other better when he would pay visits to them. They never did go out together until after they were married. Unlike in Afghanistan, it would have been fine for her to change her mind at this late date and back out of the marriage. She told me that in the Koran it says that the woman must also agree to the marriage. Read more »
Posted in Iraqi Refugee Women's Project, Iraqi women | 1 Comment »