International Women's Day in Afghanistan - CTV Video

[RHFC_piper]

I saw this clip today, on CTV Newsnet, and then found it on CTV.ca so I could post it here.

Video Clip

Anytime I'm asked why I went; This is why.  Was it worth it? Yes it was.  Do you see change? Yes I do.

When a sixteen year old can talk about her career plans, for example.
"I want to become a police officer and help my country" She says.

Seeing this and listening to people who are so brave as to blatantly defy Taliban law and Afghan Social Taboos to come out and say they WANT TO HELP THEIR COUNTRY makes me realize; these are the people who will win the "war".  They will be the ones to reap the victory.


As morbid and odd as it sounds; I would give any part of me, suffer more wounds, just to ensure that these people realize their victory...  It would be a great day in Afghanistan when a woman is accepted as a Police Officer.  I hope it happens... I hope they all get the freedoms they deserve.

 

[Good2Golf]

Indeed, Piper!  Paul Workman's piece gets to the heart of why Canadians helping is the right thing to do -- especially gratifying when you've been there to see this with your own eyes.  The strength of Afghan women is incredible.  Sad comment that many of the women attending the activities did so without the support of the men, but at the same time, that such activities are allowed is a good sign -- this would absolutely not happened under Taliban rule.

 

[Yrys]

I'm sometimes surprised about the reasons some of my friends say we shouldn't be there.
But the one that surprised me the most was a feminist friend that I couldn't change the mind of,
even by telling her what was happening to women under the Taliban regime.

There is a group of Afghan deputies (women) actually in Canada. They were in Ottawa Friday.
They only make a '30 seconds' news story in CTV. I didn't find anything else about them.
Wish I had, I sure would love to hear more from them then a "Canadians need to have patience".



Small hijack :

Windows Media Player could not be found. You may need to upgrade to the latest version.

Sometimes I hate the Internet.

 

[Flip]

CBC radio ran a piece on this as well.
I heard that the women were allowed on the base in Kandahar so they could celebrate
without fear of retribution.  It's shame - and a sham that the good news which is all to rare is so easy to overlook.  In Canada the CTV Globe empire seem to be the worst about this.

 

[OkotoksRookie]

Thanks for sharing this Piper,
I agree Flip, It truely is a shame that these good stories rarely ever get the attention they deserve. I hate to be the guy forwarding those mass emails but I think I'm going to do that with this video clip.

 

[OldSolduer]

When our friends who don't want us in Afghanistan express their views ask them this:

Why do you hate women? Why do you want to opress them?

One question: When the Taliban were in control and using soccer stadiums as places of execution, where were the protests by civil liberatrians and Amnesty International?
Just wondering.....