Portraits
Zahra
Zahra, 42, lives in the women's shelter together with two young daughters and a son. Her oldest daughter and her husband were killed in a Taliban attack on their house. The businessman to whom she, following her daughter's own wish, gave her second daughter in marriage turned out to be a drug user who abused his wife. Another daughter died from malaria when Zahra was in hospital with symptoms of paralysis after being hit by a bullet. Today her two youngest daughters and her son go to school. The oldest, 14-year-old Hakima, hopes for a better future: 'One day I hope to be a doctor.'
Shima
38-year-old Shima is illiterate. When her first husband died, she had to leave her children with his familiy. After the war, during which she lived in Pakistan, she returned home with her second husband and their children. Her second husband fell ill and died, too. This is when she came to live in the Nahid shelter; she wouldn't for all the world want to lose her children once again. By knitting carpets the children managed to keep the family alive for a few months; now the foundation is taking care of the food and lodging. The Taliban and the persistent wars have prevented Shima to make the most of her musical talents. Now her 11-year-old daughter Marzia hopes one day to be a singer; her dream is to be allowed to participate in the Afghan 'Stars' television programme.
Raihana
29-year-old Raihana is the only occupant of the women's shelter with a job, as a secretary in the Ministry of Disabled People. In the shelter she occupies half a room. Her salary doesn't allow her to rent her own accommodation. Besides, she supports her parents financially as a concession to their unease with the situation; her father wants her to remarry so that he would get more money, but Raihana is still mourning the husband of her choice, who died in a Taliban attack. Their son was born after his father's death. She would like to go to university but doesn't feel it is safe for her to go there on her own during the evening. Like Hamida, she may well be taking up a job in the bakery.
Hamida
Hamida, 32, is a strong woman. She wants to become economically independent as soon as possible and rent or buy her own house. She is the only occupant who has gone to university, for one year; most of the others haven't even been to school. 'I studied law until we married and moved to Iran. My husband got a good job in the construction industry there. Unfortunately he died falling off a scaffolding. 'I was in a shock and one side of my face became paralyzed,' she recalls. After her return to Kabul she lived in the mosque for some time, being harrassed by the many male visitors. Through the mediation of the Ministry of Women's Affairs she eventually came in contact with the Nahid Foundation. With her intellect and fighting spirit Hamida might well be the right person to set up a bakery, said Janny Beekman: 'This is one of the many plans to create income-generating activities for the women. But in a bakery, there must be a man too. The time has not yet come to start a company ran only by women, especially in this case because the work involves much door-to-door selling, which Afghans judge inappropriate for a woman,' said Beekman on a visit to the women's shelter.
Farina
35-year-old Farina has six children. Her youngest, one-year-old daughter has never known her own father, who was killed in an accident, 51 years old, together with their oldest son. Farina was married off by her mother when she was only 14 years old, and has never learned how to earn a living herself.
Thra
At 26, Thra, unmarried, is the youngest occupant of the women's shelter. She shares a room with her cousin Fatima, with whom she used to live at the house of Fatima's parents after Fatima's husband had died, but they were pestered to the point of being forced to leave by Fatima's sister-in-law. The family earned too little to be able to support the two cousins as well
Fatima
Fatima, who lived for some time in Iran, has three children. Her husband was killed in a car accident when she was a few months pregnant. She then lived with her parents and brother until she moved to the Nahid shelter, when it became clear that there was not enough food for everyone.
Ruqea
Ruqea became a widow when her husband died in the attacks on Ghorband. She has four children. She managed to earn herself and her children a living by taking in sewing for a while, until that was no longer possible due to the bad economic situation in Kabul, with rising prices caused by the presence of foreigners but hardly any work. Now she goes to sewing classes; her children go to school.
Zarghona
Zarghona has three children. When she was last pregnant her husband died from a heart attack in Kandahar, where they lived. She then went to Kabul to live with her brother and sister-in-law. Although she earned her own living as a domestic servant, her sister-in-law nonetheless harrassed her until she had to leave.
Liloma
Liloma's story is quite similar to that of Zarghona. She lived together with her husband and two children. After her husband died she lived with her brother and his wife, but the latter pestered her, forcing her to leave, in spite of the fact that she earned her own living as a seamstress. In Afghanistan the husband's family is supposed to look after the widow, but in many cases this is not what's happening in reality.
