WE ARE AFGHAN WOMEN

For readers of I Am Malala, Women Hold Up Half the Sky, and It Takes a Village, this is a moving collection of stories of individual Afghan women that creates a portrait of their lives, struggles, and successes and conveys the remarkable resilience of the nation and its women.

This tells the stories of Afghan women from different walks of life and uses personal narratives to highlight the progress of individuals who once were trapped in their own country, if not their own homes.

Women like Dr. Sakena Yacobi, who ran underground schools for girls until the Taliban fell, after which she established schools across Afghanistan to teach women to read and to educate and prepare girls to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, business owners, and politicians; and Masooma Jafari, who started a national midwives association, after her own mother was forced into marriage when she was 12 years old and gave birth to her first child at 13.

Powerful stories like Yacobi's and Jafari's will show the way to a better future for Afghanistan, remind the international community why it must remain engaged, and remind readers of the dangers of tactics that target women in order to limit their roles in society and in government. 15,000 women are now enrolled in Afghanistan's universities, but girls continue to face violence for pursuing an education, as seen with the 2012 assassination attempt on Malala Youssafazi in neighboring Pakistan.

The realities of life in this part of the world, one of the most dangerous places to be a child or pregnant woman, are tough, but this unique book will chronicle the lives of women who have defied the odds. Their stories offer hope for their country, give testament to their resilience, and remind the world why it is important that they prevail.