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July 1, 2004
Going for gold
In Afghanistan women are again active in their society. Two girls will be participating in this year’s Athens Olympics, writes Zahrah Nasir
The women of Afghanistan have long been portrayed as repressed but during a recent visit to Kabul evidence to the contrary was abundantly available. Expecting to see nothing other than shadowy burqa clad figures darting furtively in and out of ruined buildings, I was stunned to see young women wearing long skirts, fashionably slit to the knee, exposing white shalwars or for the more daring fishnet stockings. The skirts were topped by loose blouses and piled up hair draped with soft headscarves flowing in the breeze. Yet others wore bell bottomed trousers or jeans and jackets.
All strode confidently along, bundles of books under their arms, past completely renovated buildings or buildings which have not suffered war damage at all. Returning to Afghanistan after a 21-year gap, I had relied on news stories and absolutely nothing had given me reason to question what I now know to be the sheer negativity of such reports.
The women — in Kabul at least — are thriving, working in all walks of life and moving towards what is, hopefully, a wonderful future. Two prime examples of this march towards liberation are Friba Rezzai and Rubina Mqeir. Both are 17 and both are going for gold. Whilst one cannot help but suppress a shudder on entering Kabul Stadium, a place made infamous by the Taliban who used it as a public execution ground when they controlled the city from September 27, 1996 to November 13, 2001, the sheer vivacity and enthusiasm in the air immediately washes any bad taste away.
The stadium is now home to the Afghan Olympic Committee and in its smartly renovated, computer packed offices, where men and women share equal opportunities on the job front, it then came as no surprise to discover that female athletes also compete wholeheartedly with their male counterparts. In fact to such a degree that the country has already sent Rezzai and Mqeir to Athens for last minute, highly intensive training, aimed at giving them a fair chance in the upcoming Olympic Games.
In softly accented English, Friba shyly said: “I am very happy and nervous. This is a big opportunity for the Afghan people. Now that we have peace we have this opportunity. This is the first group of Afghan athletes to go to the Olympic Games after peace has come. This is good for Afghanistan and especially good for girls.”
Born in Sar-i-Pul, Jowzjan Province, in the north of the country, Friba, a member of the Hazara community, fled, along with the rest of her family, to Peshawar when she was only eight years old, returning to Afghanistan two years ago.
“In Peshawar there was no opportunity for me to do sports. I was always studying.” On returning to Kabul, Friba quickly joined a club and began, of all things, training to be a boxer. “I know that boxing is an unusual sport for girls, but I wanted to do competitions like Mike Tyson, like Laila Ali,” she explained punching her fists to demonstrate.
After four months of boxing training her coach advised that her weight was more appropriate for judo. “On this advice I switched over to judo and now have a brown belt. I attend school in the morning and come here for training afterwards. I also do weights. I was in a judo competition in India a few months ago but didn’t take any top position.
“Now whilst I am very excited about the Olympics I am very nervous as to whether I will win. I worry about this a lot because our training is not as good as in other countries, though we do have a good Norwegian coach. The Hazara community has posed some problems in my life, but my parents, four brothers and three sisters are all very proud of me. They are happy that I am representing my country and my community in the Olympics.”
Rubina, taller and more confident than the diminutive Friba, only began her athletics career eight months ago and competes in the 100m sprint. “Running makes me feel so free,” she enthused. “It was my own decision to take up this sport.”
Her family is originally from Kunduz, and took refuge in Pakistan where she was born. “We came back to Afghanistan 13 years ago when I was four years old,” she explained. Living in Kabul through the Taliban occupation Rubina only has bad memories and is understandably reluctant to talk about it. “Just sitting around at home, no studies, nothing,” she said.
Rubina has already competed in sporting events in Iran where she obtained fifth place, and more recently, the SAF Games in Pakistan where she came sixth.
These two girls are full of hopes and fears, and are ready to take on the world with long-term careers in mind. “I want to be a lawyer specializing in women's rights,” Friba said. “Afghanistan needs women’s rights activists.” Rubina intends to become a doctor and then specialize in orthopaedics so that she can continue her athletic associations.
This time around these two excited young girls are the only women in the Afghan Olympic team, but a large number of even younger girls are already training in a wide range of sports so that when the next Olympics comes along they will be ready and waiting.
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