Parwana was 15 when she was deprived of going to school under the Taliban’s regime, which took power back in August 2021 in Afghanistan. At such a young age, Parwana started to stand against the regime’s restrictions on Afghan women by recording herself dancing Sama and posting it on social media.
For her safety, we use Parwana as her pseudonym and an AI-generated photo as her image in this feature article.
The Sama dance, also called Sufi whirling, is a spiritual practice associated with the Mevlevi Order in Sufism. Practitioners, known as dervishes, perform circular spins symbolizing a mystical journey toward spiritual enlightenment.
While women in Afghanistan are deprived of their basic rights, such as choosing what to wear, going out in public freely, studying, and working, Parwana began to dance Sama in public to criticize the restrictions on herself and millions of other women in Afghanistan.
Following threats from unknown sources and the Taliban, she did not stop but turned to an alternative: recording herself dancing while covering her face and posting her videos on social media through media outlets.
“It is really hard to do it here. After sharing my videos on social media, it has a lot of problems and challenges for me,” she describes how she was impacted by the threats.
Schoolgirls in Afghanistan, including Parwana, who are now imprisoned in their homes, have started to spend their days learning new skills and thinking of pursuing a different path for their dreams and passions.
Parwana was 17 when she discovered her passion for photography. Soon, she found herself in this beautiful art as a skillful photographer, using photography to showcase the unseen beauty of Afghanistan and Afghan women to the world.
“At first, I started photography as my hobby, but after some time, I realized I was not doing this for myself anymore. I am doing it for my people,” committing to capturing things through the lens of her camera that often goes unnoticed in Afghanistan.
Parwana stresses that the difficult circumstances and moments that millions of Afghan girls and women are going through should be captured.
“I think with myself that there should be someone who captures these moments to show the world the lives of millions of girls at this time—that women and girls are still doing [their best] with this much pain and this much problem.”
Parwana tries to reach out to as many girls as possible to talk to them, listen to what they have to say, and bring it to life through her camera.
The photos she takes go into her photo collection called "Egyptian Lotus," which implies the concept of flowers growing up in swamps—comparing Afghan girls to flowers that have to live under difficult circumstances.
As Parwana grows, she learns more about herself, and life, and shapes her beliefs by exploring different books from well-known authors.
“When I read those stories, I think that if they could survive those times, then maybe I can too,” adds Parwana after sharing that she has been reading narratives and stories of Afghan women under the first period of the Taliban regime back in the 1990s.
Khaled Hosseini, Lillias Hamilton, Elif Shafak, and Michelle Obama are some of her favorite authors.
For Parwana, it is highly significant to keep her dreams alive and not give up despite all the challenges she and her fellows are facing in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
“My dreams are very important to me, and I will do anything to achieve them, I know that one day I will have a speech at the United Nations, and I will talk about all of these women and say that I am only a teenage girl, and what is happening is not fair.”
In her last statement in the interview with HerStory, Parwana stresses again the importance of continuing to introduce Afghan women to the world, “I want to show that women and girls in Afghanistan are so beautiful—their dresses, their hair, their homes, and all of their traditions—but at this time, they’re all trapped in their homes.”
inspired with braveness and creativity of Afghan ladies .😇