DAY 1 - Meeting the girls

Madeeha Ansari, Program Officer/Blog Admin

I love the way the girls speak.

There is a kind of refinement in it, a kind of wholesome dignity. "Thayrao", my mother would say with a touch of wistfulness. We live in brash, boisterous times.

It's not that they are all quiet, or do not have strong opinions. Each one is different and each is eager to be heard. Their clear-headed individuality was evident from the very first day, when given ten minutes to pen down their "Expectations from This Experience". If there was any confusion or vagueness about the purpose of the retreat, it was dispelled in the hour following the ice-breakers. As a volunteer my own expectations had been hazy at best; I wasn't sure whether to be ashamed or grateful for finally being handed a clue.

The Swat Valley Girls are here with a message to share. They value learning and know that Islamabad has much to offer, but not at the expense of an identity that they have struggled hard to preserve through the reign of the Taliban. It is one of progressive tolerance, that they extend to the jeans-clad urban-dwellers as well as the local maulvi near school. They are here to broaden their own minds as well as ours, so that we think twice before stereotyping the next gentleman sporting a beard.

"My father has a beard," said one. "Does that mean he's a Talib?"

Probably not, if he sent his 6th grader daughter to an alien place which was sure to provide a very different kind of exposure. I'm not sure if my parents had the strength to allow something like that before college - LUMUN doesn't count.

Shandana's voice rings with passion; Laila's is soft and lilting. Eman would like to meet a poet; another would like to learn calligraphy. Anila is generous enough to speak of personal suffering; Sundus has the most eloquent eyes.

It is going to be an honour to be part of the stories these girls will have to tell.