Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan: The Martyr Who Founded RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan

by Melody Ermachild Chavis, Alice Walker (Foreword by)

Overview

The unforgettable story of how one woman dared to start a revolution. Meena founded RAWA in 1977 as a twenty-year-old Kabul University student. She was assassinated in 1987 at age thirty but lives on in the hearts of all progressive Muslim women. Her voice, speaking for freedom, has never been silenced. The compelling story of Meena's struggle for democracy and women's rights in Afghanistan will inspire young women the world over.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312306908
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	10/01/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Melody Ermachild Chavis is the author of a memoir, Altars in the Street. Accompanied by Latifa Popal, Melody traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to interview women who knew Meena. Melody works as a private investigator defending people facing capital punishment. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is also a peace and social justice activist. All of the author's proceeds from Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan will be donated to programs sponsored by RAWA.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
1	A Girl Between the old World and the New	1
2	A Teenager in Kabul	12
3	Study the Koran Well	22
4	The New World Begins	33
5	A Partnership	43
6	The Founding	55
7	Growing Danger	67
8	Torn Apart	74
9	Underground	85
10	Europe	101
11	Exile	114
12	Women's Work	124
13	Irretrievable Loss	139
14	With all Their Strength	147
15	Rawa Rising	158
	Epilogue	176
	Author's Note: Searching for Meena	183
	Chronology	195
	Further Reading	199
	Index	201

Reading Group Guide

The unforgettable story of how one woman dared to start a revolution. Meena founded RAWA in 1977 as a twenty-year-old Kabul University student. She was assassinated in 1987 at age thirty but lives on in the hearts of all progressive Muslim women. Her voice, speaking for freedom, has never been silenced. The compelling story of Meena's struggle for democracy and women's rights in Afghanistan will inspire young women the world over.

1. Meena's family was relatively privileged, but she identified strongly with very poor people. Why? Which other leaders can you think of who made similar choices?
2. How is the Sharia legal code similar to or different from the laws of your country? How did Meena hope to change Afghan law, if she could have become a judge?
3. What barriers do women in your country face? Compare women's situation where you live to their conditions in Afghanistan.
4. What are some of the advantages for women of wearing clothing that covers their bodies, in cultures that make women's modesty a high priority?
5. What are some of the advantages to women of segregation of the sexes in school, work and social life? What are the disadvantages?
6. How do you think RAWA's work would have been different if Meena had founded it as an open membership group instead of as a clandestine organization?
7. Meena did not work alone. How did forming an organization help further her goals? Can you think of individuals in history who were effective by their individual actions? Who are some leaders you admire who formed organizations or started movements? What organization would you join? What organization would you like to start? What would be its goals?
8. What roles did the Soviet Union and the United States play in Afghanistan? What do you think is the responsibility of a foreign power to take action in countries where there are terrible human rights violations?
9. Why is literacy so important to RAWA?
10. What do you think of a woman leaving her children with caretakers in order to pursue the goal of changing society for the better? What about a man? Under what circumstances would you do this?
11. Do you think it is wrong for a mother to risk her life for a principle she believes in? Is it more wrong for a mother to do so than for a father?
12. What principles do you believe in that you would risk your life for? When have you taken even a small risk to speak up when only a few people, or no one around you would agree with you? Can you think of an occasion when you did speak up? How about a time when you did not speak up, and you wish you had?
13. What are Meena's qualities that inspire young people today?

Editorial Reviews

Meena: a life, a country, Afghanistan, a woman's life, women's lives, bravery, and determination to educate girls and young in the face of the cruelest oppression. After Meena's murder, the women inspired by her, despite great danger, continue the work. An important book.” —Grace Paley

“Melody Ermachild Chavis has written a deceptively simple, clear, and absolutely stunning portrait of a selfless revolutionary and of the organization of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, which she founded. Meena, inspires, humbles, and haunts us. Ultimately, Meena compels us to act—for peace and justice, for democracy, and, above all, for the liberation of women. Please read this book. It is a gift from the women of Afghanistan to the women of the world.” —Bettina Aptheker, professor and chair of the women's studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz

“This is an interesting and useful account of the struggle waged by a young Afghan woman against religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan. The United States government encouraged and supported the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden in the struggle to 'contain' Soviet expansion for a number of years. Meena was a victim of religious fundamentalism, but also of big power interests.” —Nawal El Saadawi, author of A Daughter of Isis and Walking Through Fire

“Timely biography conscientiously detailing the brief but courageous life of the young woman who founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). . . A vivid celebration of a contemporary heroine.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A vivid celebration of a contemporary heroine.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Early on in her tribute to Meena, an Afghan woman who founded and led the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan before being assassinated in 1987 at age 30, Chavis tells the legend of another martyred Afghan, Malalai, who was supposedly shot while inspiring her compatriots to defeat the British in 1880. It is a glorified portrait, revealing little more than Malalai's nationalistic bravery. Unfortunately, Chavis' glowing, saccharine telling of Meena's life provides about the same level of insight, reducing this leading Afghan feminist to a storybook heroine. Chavis describes Meena as a selfless, tireless saint who, despite personal tragedy and physical illnesses, never complained and worked each day to help others until she passed out from exhaustion -a cliched rendering that, while perhaps true, makes for a one-dimensional biography. Just as Chavis' characterizations lack the quirks and complexities needed to bring people to life, her inadequate historical and political background, peppered with such phrases as "flickering flame of freedom," wants for sophistication and nuance. According to the author's note, she spent months in Afghanistan, interviewing Meena's friends and acquaintances. Instead of drawing on the voices of her subjects, however, Chavis largely reconstructs the story from Meena's imagined point of view, a strategy that leads to simplistic, emotive writing. The level of analysis and prose style of this biography will disappoint most adult readers, but may be more appropriate reading for young adults. 10 halftones throughout. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Timely biography conscientiously detailing the brief but courageous life of the young woman who founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Chavis (Altars in the Street, 1997) read up on Afghanistan's turbulent history, talked to people who knew Meena, and visited Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in order to fashion this account. Born in Kabul in 1957, Meena contracted typhoid at 12 and nearly died; for the rest of her life she was subject to seizures and weakness in her limbs. Her illness made the already sensitive girl more serious, particularly aware of the plight of women. Though Meena's mother was illiterate, she and her architect husband insisted that their daughter be educated. At an elite school founded by the French, Meena was a good student who enjoyed her classes and outstanding teachers, one of whom would later join her cause. Chavis deftly details the politically volatile background-the coup that ended the monarchy, the authoritarian republic, the brutal Russian occupation, and their equally harsh Taliban successors-as she chronicles Meena's decision while at college in 1977 to found RAWA. Determined to help Afghan women, most of whom were illiterate and without any legal rights, Meena and her supporters wanted RAWA to work for both democracy and social justice, objectives that became increasingly difficult and dangerous to achieve as the political situation worsened. Meena married a doctor, who was also politically active, and bore a daughter and later twins, but they were often forced by the political situation to live apart; in 1986 he was tortured and killed by fundamentalists. Meena eventually fled to Pakistan, where she continued RAWA'swork in the refugee camps, making the organization internationally famous. Threatened by her popularity, her opponents had her abducted and killed in 1987. A vivid celebration of a contemporary heroine. Agent: Ann Rittenberg

Kirkus Reviews