My Month Mentoring in the Afghan Women's Writing Project by Reader Donna Brown Agins

We have the best readers in the world. We recently told you about teacher Carol Reedy Rogero who brought our Formerly Flip Flops project to her sixth grade class to teach them about compassion along with recycling and geography. Now, read about Donna Brown Agins, who volunteered as a mentor with the Afghan Women’s Writing Project after hearing author/founder Masha Hamilton talk about it at one of our events. We hope she will inspire you to get involved in AWWP, too, or find a charitable cause that speaks personally to you. These women prove that one person can indeed make a difference.

On a rainy night last April I attended an event sponsored by StyleSubstanceSoul.com for author Masha Hamilton and her new novel 31 Hours. Masha spoke eloquently about the book, then held up a brochure and said, “I want to tell you about something very dear to my heart.”

The room grew quiet as Masha told of a smuggled video she had seen online in November 1999, showing the execution of Zarmeena, a mother of seven, which took place on a Kabul football field marked with white chalk, as if ready for a game to begin.  Zarmeena dressed modestly in a burqa knelt, while a man casually approached her and pointed his Kalashnikov rifle skyward, then at her. As he aimed, Zarmeena half turned toward him, raised her left arm, glimpsed his face and the weapon before she turned away. He pointed the rifle at her head and fired three times.

I was in shock as Masha described how Zarmeena’s sister covered her sister’s lifeless body, the turbaned men who moved toward the body and the Toyota truck that removed it.  In a quiet, firm voice, Masha said, “Zarmeena never had a chance to tell her story.”

In the weeks that followed, Masha discovered that this absence of voice, of narrative, of story was true of virtually all women in Taliban-held Afghanistan. The lasting impact of that execution led her to create the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP), a volunteer-run organization that partners writers with Afghan women to give them a voice. As a woman, a writer and a mother, how could I not do this? I spoke with Masha after her presentation, explained that I am a published author and within the week I signed up to mentor in AWWP for the month of October.

The preliminary preparation for mentoring consisted of monitoring the mentor before me, and reading instructions from the AWWP website.  But nothing could really prepare me for the writings of these brave women. Over my four weeks of mentoring, I gave them themes with which to work. One prompt — write about a memory — was particularly successful. Another prompt — tell about an object that is meaningful to you — also brought great response. I kept the writing prompts broad so the women could go anywhere with them.

In one essay, “Forgive Me River,” the writer told of a trip she took to get out of the blistering summer heat of Kabul. But arriving at a small lake, she could not go in or even touch the water — because she was a woman — even though her husband accompanied her. When all the men who were there had moved away, she walked by the edge of the lake to cool herself but accidentally fell in the water. Her husband scooped her out, and they ran to their car and quickly drove away for fear of reprisal.  Her essay asked for the river’s forgiveness . . .

In “A Hard Decision to Make,” the writer wrote of her desire for an education.  She described the Taliban bombing her village and school when she was in second grade, leaving her family no choice but to live and hide in the mountains until it was safe to return. Two years later, when the family finally moved back into the city, she had forgotten all she had learned. Her brother tutored her and she progressed so well that several years later, she was selected for a scholarship to spend a year studying in the United States. Her father forbid her to go. Her uncles came and told of the dangers of the United States. She was torn between her desire to learn and the expectation to be an obedient daughter. Her mother secretly encouraged her. In the end, against her father’s wishes, her brother took her to the airport for a bittersweet departure.

The women’s essays dealt with a range of topics, including secret schools, the attacks on girls, the growing threat of kidnapping for ransom and about how young people — children — feel obligated to help support their families.

Sometimes I would receive a response to a prompt right away; other times, it took a few days or a week. I learned that often the women have to have a male relative take their writing to an Internet café to send it.  For the women, finding safe access to a computer is an act of bravery in itself. Some of the women have received “night letters”– termed because the Taliban comes in the darkness of night to leave them on a front door. These letters often threaten the women’s lives in specific terms. Some women walk for miles through Taliban–held territory to send in their poems and essays. Often they hide their AWWP laptops and their participation in AWWP from their fathers, uncles and male relatives. Knowing this reinforced my own strong feelings about how important it was to be encouraging and supportive of their writings. As Elisabeth Lehr, our coordinator, explained, “Every day is a difficult day for these women.”

September 26, 2010 was an especially difficult day when a British worker, Linda Norgrove, was kidnapped along with three Afghan co-workers in a remote area of Kunar province, a region bordering Pakistan. Sadly, one week week later, an American grenade went off during a rescue attempt and killed Ms Norgrove.

Several days after this tragic event, a sister of one of the Afghan co-workers who had been abducted joined my online classroom. I sent her a letter of welcome and encouragement. The author wrote a lovely obituary/eulogy for Laura Norgrove. She described how Ms. Norgrove tried to help poor women by training them in agriculture, business, literacy and raising poultry. The author wrote poignantly about how grateful the women in the village were for Ms. Norgrove’s help and support, what a lovely person Linda was and how distraught they were that she was taken and later killed.

But what struck me most was how upset the author was that the world only sees Afghanistan as a terrible, hostile place. She said she wished the world could know that the Afghan people were generous, hospitable and kind. She promised to continue the work Ms. Norgrove started.

Over and over, I found the women’s optimism in the face of darkness, war and complete oppression heroic. Inspiring. The writers had a sweetness of spirit that I am positive I would not have if I walked in their shoes. As with any good teaching experience, I learned as much as I taught. I feel such a strong connection to these women.

If you are interested in reading more of their work, AWWP maintains an online magazine as a key part of the project. Having their essays, poems and stories posted instills a sense of pride and hope in the women. The postings will also enlighten you about life in Afghanistan.

I am so grateful to StyleSubstanceSoul for creating a website with heart and conscience and for sponsoring Masha’s event. Thank you, Masha, for founding AWWP and allowing me to mentor these amazing women who forever changed my life.

Oh, last but not least, AWWP is run totally by volunteers and funded by donations. You may not have the time or desire to volunteer, but if you go to the website, there is a place to click and make a donation to this most worthy project. By donating, you’ll be helping to make a difference.