In the fall of 2003, I became acquainted with the story of Mukhtar Mai, a peasant girl from Meerwala Jatoi, Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Her story in 2003 was tragic and yet hopeful at the same time. After days of not being able to get her image,in the black shalwar qameez and veil, out of my mind, her deep sense of profound sadness was calling to me. So one day I decided I needed to reach out to her. I searched high and low and finally found her email address. I remember it like it was yesterday, sitting down at my kitchen table with my computer and as the words flowed…so did the tears. I couldn’t get the profound sadness in her eyes out of my mind. When I hit send, I never expected a reply, but about a week or so later, there it was a tiny note in broken english that said: “thank you for yur note, my enklish is poor, yur words mean much too me.” And there our friendship begins…
Fast forward to 2009, the sadness that was once there has been replaced with sheer determination. She’s not the timid, sad, shy girl anymore, she’s a passionate, courageous Pakistanin woman with a deep desire to make things better in her tiny villiage…in spite of the constant death threats and the urging of many to move to a safer place. Take just six minutes and watch the video below.
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If you want to know more about Mukhtar Mai or how you can help her you can get information at Mercy Corps, or you can read Nicholas Kristof’s book.
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