Parwana Mohammadi, 17, is living in Kabul and is now in eleventh grade at
school. She wants to become a successful journalist in the future. She did not
have an easy life before her mother and her father got divorced because of the
addiction of her father, daily because of conflicts including domestic violence
which dominated the family life. Parwana felt alone, often helpless and
sometimes ashamed. She did not dare to speak about it.
“I was always frightened. When I became older, the violence I had experienced affected my behavior with other people. I was afraid of peopleand I trusted no one. I was trying to avoid others.”
After some time Parwana was encouraged by her friend, to participate in socio-cultural dialogues with other people.
. “At first I was scared of being
judged. But after a few meetings, I realized that these dialogues created a safe
and reliable atmosphere in which everyone can talk freely about their values,
their dreams, their challenges, their lives lives. I also heard from others
about their difficulties and I learned how they had coped with them. I realized
that I was not alone and that everyone was struggling with some sort of family or
community problems. Not only did I learn from these discussions they also
increased my level of understanding and tolerance.” She said.
After this experience I tried to
promote such an open and friendly atmosphere in my family. I knew that I was
the one who should start. For instance, I listened to my mother’s words more
and in some cases tolerated her point of view even if I disagreed. I thanked her
for all the support she had given me and I acknowledged that she had suffered
the same way as I had. In return, I felt that she was also paying more
attention to me. ”
“Today, we respect each other and have a good
and peaceful life together!” she added.
Parwana thinks that now that she has
experienced that being open and being able to have empathy with the other
person has made such a positive impact on her personal and social life, that she
wants to help others to engage in the same way with other people in their
family, “my mission is to encourage other young people to relate differently to
each other.” She said.
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