Issue #3 – 7/2/13

Helping Afghan Women Tell Their Stories

Two Women with Boulder

You can help Afghan women and girls develop their writing skills and share their stories with the rest of the world, including their stories of forced marriage. The Afghan Women’s Writing Project pairs Afghan women and girls with established writers to assist them in developing their writing skills. The project then gives them a platform to share their stories with the world, anonymously if necessary. Sometimes the stories are about the violence and abuse they face and their hopes for change, but other stories are about their day to day experiences, and the beauty and ideas that inform their lives.

Think you have nothing to offer women and girls on the other side of the world? Think again. The writer’s are looking for feedback on their writing, encouragement to continue, and help to recruit more readers so they can share what they’ve written with as many people as possible. All you need is access to a computer, a bit of time, and the passion to end forced marriage and other forms of violence against women.

For the website visit: http://awwproject.org/

For the story of Mahtab’s forced marriage see: http://awwproject.org/2013/01/mahtab-victim-of-forced-marriage/

And for more ideas on how you can help:

Comment on the women’s work on this site. Many are writing in secret and have to go to great lengths to get their poems, essays and stories to us. They do read and appreciate the feedback.
Make a monthly donation of any size to support the project and its efforts to widen the impact of these women’s voices.
Host a Living Room Fundraiser, which involves sharing these women’s stories with a group of friends, and speaking to someone on the AWWP team via Skype or speakerphone. Our team can help you set up this memorable event.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.
Organize or support an AWWP Presents dramatic reading of these women’s work in your community. Our team can help with this.
Blog about the women’s writing. Then send us an email to let us know.