Courageous Activist for Afghan Women - Fahima Gaheez

This is a conversation that I truly wish would get wide attention because what is brought out here is so important for people, especially Americans, to know. The U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan lasted over 20 years, cost over 2500 American lives and likely 100, 000 Afghans. Thousands more on both sides suffered injuries, lost limbs and now suffer from PTSD. It cost American taxpayers over one trillion dollars. It’s important to hear from an Afghan woman the story of Afghanistan, before, during and after this war. What it has meant for women and all the people of this war-torn nation.

Fahima Gaheez, the director of Afghan Women’s Fund, grew up in Afghanistan and from an early age was involved with the women’s rights movement in that country. A chemist by training, she chose to become involved with educational programs for women. She has has been actively involved in consciousness-raising and fundraising for many years. She has addressed the United Nations, has traveled widely to speak at conferences at universities and religious organizations, and has appeared on many national and international television and radio stations.

Since 2002 Fahima has visited Afghanistan to open new schools for girls and literacy classes for women, create income-generating projects for widows to help them become self-sufficient, distribute warm clothing and school supplies to refugees and guide numerous other humanitarian and educational projects like digging wells for clean drinking water and irrigation, building schools and clinics, giving goats and chickens to the widows and helping with their health issues by building clinics and providing medical supplies.

In my conversation with her she tells her personal story of growing up in Afghanistan, working for women’s rights, and what life was like for the Afghan people before even the Russian military occupation. She describes in vivid detail the role of the U.S. government in promoting the fanatic Islamist, Mujahadeen which became the Taliban and the consequences on the ground of the U.S. military campaign and their abrupt withdrawal.

See more at http://www.crossingtheboundary.org/courageous-afghan-woman-fahima-gaheez/

Afghan Women's Fund information and to donate: https://www.afghanwomensfund.org/