High Hopes for Afghanistan

How do ordinary Afghans feel about the long-term prospects for their country? Particularly for women in Afghanistan, the answer depends upon how much support the outside world can give. Efforts by groups such as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan are definitely having a good effect. Fakhria Ibrahimi, a Hazara woman who has high hopes for her embattled country, tells her story at the Minority Rights site:

I live in Kabul and am a member of the Hazara community, most of whom live in central Afghanistan. Our customs and culture are not so different from the Pashtun majority, but we are mainly Shia Muslims and speak Farsi. We also have some special words from the Mongolian and Turkish languages...

I work for an organisation called Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan which supports women in my country through education, capacity building, health care, handicrafts and libraries. My work involves collecting reports, documents and photographs of our local Afghan partners.

Many women access our services - word spreads fast through the neighbourhood networks and through social activities.

My work has shown me how open Hazara people are. When I knocked on the doors of Hazara families in small villages in the countryside and told them I was a photographer for an international organisation and would like to take photographs to send to Europe and America in order to show how life is in Afghanistan and build support, they accepted straight away. There has been a change, this would not have happened 10 years ago - Hazara people were very repressed when the Taliban were in power.

I am 32 years old. I completed my schooling in Kabul, but when the Taliban captured the city I went to Pakistan and continued my education at university in Peshawar. I studied medicine for two years but because of personal issues I couldn’t continue.

When I came back to Kabul after the fall of Taliban I took some classes on women and politics, and, as I was interested in photography I took courses on photography and filmmaking for women.

My family have always supported what I do. My husband in particular helps me a lot on my trips to rural areas. I wouldn’t be able to travel alone, so he comes with me.