Assisting us in coordinating these awards are four outstanding ladies who are Women of Courage in their own right.

Presenting:

Carla Cash
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/245569/default.aspx

Veronica Davidson
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/vdavidson1972/default.aspx 

Joyce Hyde
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/031849/default.aspx

Pauline Raina           http://community.adlandpro.com/go/301079/default.aspx

Aparna Ganguli         http://community.adlandpro.com/go/blukiwi/default.aspx

Geketa Holman        http://community.adlandpro.com/go/313726/default.aspx

Our Sweethearts of Courage

Shirley Caron http://community.adlandpro.com/go/scaronpoet2005/default.aspx

Michael Caron        http://community.adlandpro.com/go/192260/default.aspx

And Adlands very own man of Courage

John Partington http://community.adlandpro.com/go/114695/default.aspx

WE PRESENT TO YOU OUR TWENTY EIGHTH

WOMAN OF COURAGE 

Saira Shah

Saira Shah, born on October 5, 1964, is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker.

Her most famous work is "The Blue Veil" which she filmed while traveling under cover in Afghanistan.  This film documented the attrocities being performed on women by the Taliban.

Sarai was born in London, England and raised in Kent.  She graduated from the University of London in 1986. 

After graduating college, Sarai went to Afghanistan, where she worked for three years as a reporter covering the Soviet invasion.  She also worked as a journalist for Channel 4 News.

The Blue Veil is a story of a journey that she made with two crew members in 2001.  This project was very important to her, as this had been her parents' homeland.  She wanted to go there to gain an understanding of what had happened to the land that her parents had told her so much about.

Sarai found that the Taliban controlled ninety percent of Afghanistan.  The country was doing well financially, in that they had no problem paying their troops.  However, she saw that they were not building the infrastructure.  They were not feeding their population or using the finances toward humanitarian projects.  Sarai observed that Afghanistan did not have a financial problem.  They had a political problem. 

Sarai risked her life to travel undercover with a group of Afghan feminists in order to film the horrors that women suffered under the Taliban rule. This was the only way to gain access to ordinary women in this country. One of the attrocities that she noticed was the condition of the hospitals for women.  Women doctors were supposed to staff this hospital.  However, there were so many social restrictions, that most had fled, or they were not able to get to work.  She found the hospitals filthy, with little personnel to help these women.  Male doctors were not allowed to treat women.  She found insufficient medical attention, and women in dire need of help.

Sarai found that young girls were being taught in secret schools, at great risk of being punished or imprisoned.  She found 40,000 women who had been widowed because of the war.  Many had no men to support them, and since they were not allowed to work, had to resort to begging in the streets. 

During this undercover filming, Sarai was very afraid for her safety and for the safery of her crew.  At times the entire crew was fearful.  She saw firsthand what it was like to be a woman in Afghanistan.  Under the Taliban, you did not relax.  Women were not allowed any social activities.  Worst of all, there was a large network of informants.  Luckily, Sarai stayed in a safe house but had to be careful about people tipping the Taliban off.  Sarai endured this type of life for five days. She realized that the women of Afghanistan lived this life every day.

Sarai's most traumatic experience involved three little girls that she met in a village. While the Taliban attempted to take over their house, they had shot their mother and left her body in the courtyard.  The Taliban had stayed in the house with the girls for two days, which was unthinkable in that culture.  She found the 15 year old wrapped in a shawl, rocking and crying.  This scene would make an impression on her for a very long time.

With all the cruelty inflicted on women, the beating, maimings, killings, among other horrendous acts, the Taliban's fundamental religious beliefs are hard to pin down.  She stated that they don't really know much about Islam.  Many are unaducated. Many things imposed by Taliban were actually against the teachings of Islam.   Sarai had been brought up in a Muslim home and she remembered that Mohammed had said that women are the twin hearts of men.  The Taliban's religion seemed to make up their own rules as they went along.

This trip affected Sarai's perception of the country her parents had told her so much about.  The every day violence took its toll on her.  There was no such thing as a sense of humor in Afghanistan.  She found people worn down, their spirits broken.

The orphans were another issue.  Some orphanages on the border actually helped the children.  She came across families that would take in an orphaned child as their own.  However, she found orphanages where the children had no freedom.  She found many children begging on the streets. 

In the end, Sarai was amazed at the response of the people upon seeing the film.  She saw how people wanted to help, to be involved in building a new Afghanistan.  Her goal in filming "The Blue Veil" was for people to care.  She was so grateful that this goal had been reached.

By Luella May