Jagriti International

Santa Barbara News-Press, January 27, 2002

Afghans find hope in exiled Muslim

Rights activist Sima Wali helps women regain role

By MARIANNE ARMSHAW

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Even after 22 years, grief can still overwhelm Sima Wali. Exiled from her homeland after the Soviet invasion in 1979, the Afghan human rights campaigner fought tears as she recounted the suffering and loss shared by millions of her countrywomen.

"I try not to talk about my personal story, because I don't want to cry," Ms. Wali said. "After 22 years, you think the trauma has worn off, but ..." she ended with a sigh.

Colonial America had Abigail Adams to remind the First Continental Congress to "remember the ladies."

Afghanistan has Sima Wali, a slight, elegantly dressed woman with dark hair whose hushed voice speaks for millions of Afghan woman. Poor, dispossessed and disenfranchised, they have been relegated to the margins by invasion, civil war and the Taliban-controlled society that considered them expendable.

As an exiled Muslim woman, Ms. Wali wants the world to focus on the needs of Afghan women as the nation rebuilds.

"They are the victims. It is they who will have to rebuild, to care for the old, the children, the half-million handicapped," she told an audience of 40 -- all but two of them women -- who heard her speak Saturday morning at La Casa de Maria in Montecito.

"She has an unbelievable compassion," said Michele "Mikki" Andina, president of Jagriti International, the year-old organization that hosted Ms. Wali's speech. Named for the Nepalese word for awakening, Jagriti International fosters cultural exchanges among grass-roots women's groups around the world and offers them support.

The founder of Refugee Women in Development, Ms. Wali is one of only three women participating in the peace negotiations for her war-ravaged country. In December, she helped organize an Afghan women's peace initiative in Brussels. She also helped convince the transitional government during meetings in Bonn to create a Ministry of Women's Affairs and appoint a woman, Dr. Sima Samar, to the post. The country's only female general, Dr. Suhaila Seddiqui, will head the health ministry, another cabinet position.

The rapt audience listened while Ms. Wali recounted the grim statistics. Five million refugees -- mostly women and children -- need to be returned to their villages. The land mines hidden throughout the countryside threaten the unwary with death or dismemberment. Rebuilding the nation remains a daunting task in a country so poor that every resource remains in short supply. Under the Taliban, women ranked last in priority for medical care, food and virtually every essential. Now they face grave danger in a land awash in guns.

"We must get the guns under control," she said. Unlike many Western observers, who tend to identify enforced wearing of the veil as a key problem, Ms. Wali focuses on rights to food, medical care, education and personal safety.

Now a resident of Washington, D.C., she has a message for President Bush and America's anti-terrorist allies. "(Women's) rights need to be preserved in our constitution," she said. Before the Soviet invasion, for instance, Afghan women had the right to vote. Women attended universities, held professional posts and were free to dress in a variety of styles. "(Afghanistan) had a democratic and liberal society. We were not extremists," she said. Ms. Wali worked for the Peace Corps, helping to train American volunteers working in Afghanistan.

Her countrywomen shared the searing anguish of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ms. Wali said. About 500 women risked severe Taliban reprisals to sign a moving letter of shared grief and solidarity to "our American sisters" in the wake of the attack. Many, illiterate after decades of neglect of women's education, signed with their thumbprint.

"Osama bin Laden was not invited into our county," she reminded her listeners. She called for the nations of the world to root out terrorism in Afghanistan, but wants the world to understand that Islam is not the root of the problem.

"I am an Afghan woman. I am a Muslim woman. I have lived in America for 22 years. And I refuse to apologize for any of my identities," Ms. Wali said.

Her speech moved many audience members to tears.

"It's heartbreaking," said Lynnda Blitzer. Others wondered how they could help. "I want to know what one person can do if they don't have government contacts," said Conor Nideffer, a UCSB student. "This affects all of us."

Ms. Walis' advice?

"Sponsor a family or even one person. There is so much need in a country that has nothing," she said.

Those interested in getting involved can reach Sima Wali through the Refugee Women in Development Web site, www.refwid.org or via email at refwid@erols.com