Sahar Speaks is a
powerful initiative that brings journalism to the women of Afghanistan, and
through the power of writing and articulating true stories, is set to empower
them. Speaking about her journey with Sahar Speaks, Amie Ferris-Rotman shares
her story.
My father is British, my mother American. I
grew up in both countries. I was born in London, but moved to the States when I
was 11. I came back to the UK for university (I received a BA and MA in Russian
Studies). Even though my two countries speak the same language, they could not
be more different. Growing up on both sides of the Atlantic had a huge affect
on my life; it gave me a thirst for exploring the world.
I attended an all-female rock concert in Kabul
in 2013. The Australian organisers had (rightly so, in my opinion) banned male
press. They wanted the audience at the event -- which included spoken word
poetry and Afghan female rappers -- to feel as comfortable as possible. In
Afghanistan, it's difficult for women to truly relax in a mixed-gender
environment. I went and covered it for Reuters, but we weren’t able to get
photos or video because I am a writer. And we couldn’t send anyone, because we
didn’t have any. None of the major international outfits - the BBC,
the AP, AFP, NYT, etc -- covered it because they had no Afghan female
journalists. I was the only reporter to cover the rock concert. So essentially,
this unique, all-female rock fest was wiped out of history because we didn’t
have any photographic or video evidence of it. And really, this is a metaphor
of what has been happening in Afghanistan all along. The event, the women
involved in it, were silenced. That's when the kernel of Sahar Speaks was
planted. The development of it happened while I was a John S. Knight Journalism
Fellow at Stanford University, over 2013/14. We launched in December 2015 at
London's Frontline Club, and the pilot round took place in March, 2016.
Going into the project, I thought the biggest
challenge would be getting the women on board. I was worried they may be
prevented by the men in their lives, or societal restrictions such as freedom
of movement, etc. But actually, the biggest challenge was security. The Sahar
Speaks participants are so strong-willed and independent -- but security is a
problem that everyone in Afghanistan -- and, sadly, increasingly journalists --
faces, and this concerned me greatly.
We kept the place of our training secret, and
we didn't use any pictures of the participants until after the training. We
also didn't post anything on social media during the actual training. Once we
secured permission from the participants and OK'd the use of their names,
pictures, etc, we started distributing these.
The participants are still working on their
stories -- which will be published in The Huffington Post
throughout the spring -- but we've already had some inspirational surprises. We
gained two additional participants during training -- including one
participant who spoke little English but had the courage to show up
and ask if she could "sit in to learn" -- taking our total of women
for the pilot round to 12. We have women who come from illiterate and
uneducated backgrounds, whose fathers and mothers encouraged them to pursue
their journalistic ambitions, we have mothers, family bread-winners and
students. It's an amazing group!
I'm a journalist through and through. Great
stories wake me up in the morning, and keep me going. The stories the Sahar
Speaks participants want to pursue are simply amazing. They will be telling the
world aspects of Afghanistan no one knows about. This inspires and excites me.
And reporters who do good work should be rewarded, encouraged, and appreciated.
That is already happening with the Sahar Speaks participants.
We are now planning a second round of Sahar
Speaks, photography workshops, paid internships at Kabul-based foreign bureaus,
more published stories and a private networking community. Sahar
Speaks is also a model: it can be ideally replicated anywhere in the world - including
India!
To support Sahar
Speaks, follow their crowdfunder and donate to the cause:
