Meena: Heroine Of Afghanistan by Melody Ermachild Chavis
A true story of courage and determination of one Afghanistani woman Meena who set up RAWA, The Revoulutionary Association Of The Women Of Afghanistan, to fight against injustice and fundamentalism and for justice, democracy and women's rights in a society where women were at best considered a peripheral distraction if not a nuisance with hardly any rights even as human beings.
RAWA had to work under almost impossible conditions when any dissent was brutally suppressed by the then Soviet installed regime. Its members had to work clandestinely, carrying any association literature under their burqa, moving about surreptitiously or risked arrests, torture or a worse fate.The situation became so bad that Meena had to move to Pakistan to continue the RAWA work. But even in Pakistan, Meena and her helpers had to face harassment and taunts from Muslim fundamentalists especially from the Hekmatyar faction and later the Taliban.
Unfortunately, Meena was gunned down in 1987 before she was able to officially open the Malalai Hospital for women she helped to establish.
The story unfolds nicely the way the author writes and there was hardly a boring moment, at least for me.
CURRENTLY READING
The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester
According to the book cover :"The fantastic story of the eccentric scientist who unlocked the mysteries of the Middle Kingdom."
The scientist was Joseph Needham, a briliant Cambridge scientist. The time was during the Sino-Japanese war in the 1930s.
Spirit Of China by Gill Davies
A coffee-table top book which is, according to the book cover "A photographic journey of the people, culture and history", of China of course.A photographic look of China presented under the five Chinese elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal dealing with the terrain, people, culture, cities, business, food and nature and others. Fantastic photographs and helpful texts.
