A Woman of Courage
It has been a long journey for Suraya Pakzan. Ten years ago she began secretly educating young girls from her own home in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. This month she is receives the 'Woman of Courage Award 2008' from the US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. In this podcast Suraya speaks to Rachel Stevens about the remarkable lengths she went to, to protect the young girls she secretly educated.
Girls’ education was illegal under the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In 1998, concerned at the prospect of a generation of women growing up without an education, Suraya formed the Voice of Women Organisation and began teaching girls to read and write in the secrecy of her home in Kabul. In the beginning she had just ten students. Two years later, Suraya and her friends were educating more than 300 girls in small, secret groups in their houses – risking death for breaking the law if discovered.
In 2001, when the Taliban government was deposed, the ‘Voice of Women Organisation’ became the first woman-run non-governmental organisation to register under the new government. Today the organisation, which is now a Christian Aid partner, promotes women’s rights across Afghanistan through awareness raising programmes and continues to help poor women earn a living.
This month, Suraya is one of eight women from all over the world to receive the Woman of Courage Award in recognition of their bravery in speaking out against injustice in their countries.
To read more about Suraya’s story visit the Christian Aid website www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/lifeonthemargins/stories/woman_courage.aspx
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