A Woman Among Warlords Chapter 1

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Reading Guidelines for A Woman Among Warlords, pp.1-18 1 – What do we learn about the lives of average Afghan women, men and children? Afghan women are much inferior to men in Afghanistan: A woman should never be seen in public without male company, girls are sold into marriage, and rape goes unpunished every day. In Afghanistan, lives of both men and women are subject to violence, war and injustice. Desperate poverty sets the life expectancy of both men and women at around 45 years. Around eighty percent of women and half of afghan men are illiterate. 2 – What stories does Joya tell about her family, in particular her father, and why? Joya tells us a lot about her father. He is, according to her, the source of her motivation to fight for the rights of the afghan people. He was in fact a great supporter of democracy and human rights, at a time when these values went in contradiction with the beliefs of the state heads. Joya’s father gave his life to fight for his country. He had to quit his medicine studies to join the fight against the Soviet invasion in 1979, battle in which he lost his leg after stepping on a land mine. In her first years, Joya didn’t get to know her father very well; he often had to hide because of the political situation of the country. The government would be aware of her father’s activity against the leaders in control of his country, and very often policemen would come and search her house for information on his whereabouts. Joya war reunited with her father at the age of four. 3 – What is the signification of Malalai Joya’s name? The name of Malalai, a popular name in Afghanistan, was given to her in reference to one of the greatest freedom fighters of her country; Malalai of Maiwand. His bravery and courage is taught at school to all of afghan children growing up. Malalai of Maiwand fought against the British Empire in the
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