A ray of hope for Afghanistan
By Meaghan Carey
The image of a large hole in the ground where refugee Afghani families reside in the wintertime would be something Khaled Hosseini would never forget. The life changing experience occurred when Hosseini was shown this particular hole by a young boy from a refugee camp in northern Afghanistan who said him and 22 of his family members would huddle together in the colder months. It was at this exact moment that Hosseini decided to create The Khaled Hosseini Foundation which mission is to improve the lives of Afghani’s living in poverty, specifically women and children.
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. His father was a diplomat and worked for the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry. His family then relocated to Paris, France because of his father job; eventually Hosseini ended up living in political asylum in San Jose, California. Hosseini studied medicine and afterwards wrote two books: “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.”
Hosseini was chosen to be the speaker at Fall Convocation that took place on Tuesday afternoon in Alumni Gym. In his latest book (which was the selected book for the Elon University’s class of 2013) “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, follows two Afghani women in the struggle to live in Afghanistan. The best-selling novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” also reflects Hosseini’s own beliefs about Afghanistan women. Hosseini said, “women in Afghanistan are the answer to success to Afghanistan.” The author also believes that more presence women have in society the more Afghanistan will transform into a more progressive and modern nation.
Afghanistan’s past has proved to be imperative into understanding why injustice for women still remain in the country. Past rulers efforts to change the treatment of women included banning burkas, providing education, banning child marriage, and granting women the right to sue their husband. In turn, “every turn has been met with resistance,” said Hosseini. Hosseini also said that “what the Taliban did was a great disservice [to Afghanistan and women].”
With the United States and Afghanistan fighting, Hosseini said for him personally, “this is not a war on terror, it is a war on poverty.” Hosseini said one out of five Afghani children do not make it to the age of 5. The effect of poverty has caused more Afghani people to die than the civilian deaths from the current war. That aside, Hosseini said he has become “more sober about the magnitude of challenge in Afghanistan.”
Hosseini is adamant about the need for Afghanistan to incorporate women into society as well as to fight for the bettering of Afghanistan peoples’ living conditions. Since the publication of his books, Hosseini has established The Khaled Hosseini Foundation that lends grants and gifts in order to provide shelter and food for impoverished citizens of Afghanistan. Furthermore, Hosseini has become a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The message was clear by Hosseini at Fall Convocation: individuals need to travel to gain perspective of the world, as well as be aware of issues such as the brutal treatment of women in Afghanistan and rampant poverty. The Khaled Hosseini Foundation’s website provides a mission statement: “The rebuilding needs of Afghanistan are great, and containing the tide of human suffering there is a task of Herculean proportion. But we can all contribute. We can all do our part, however modest.”
