MARYAM BIBI talked with Alasdair Soussi
PHOTO/Khwendo Kor
A chief executive of a women’s charity is not usually what springs to mind when one considers dangerous professions. But when that profession is based in one of the most violent and volatile cities in the world, the dangers are all too real. Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP), has hovered on the brink of war for 30 years. It’s been home to Maryam Bibi and her organization, Khwendo Kor (KK), since 1993. For Bibi, the threat of death is a daily occurrence in this socially conservative city which borders the militant Khyber region and is only an hour’s drive away from war-torn Afghanistan.
‘It is very dangerous here and our work is badly affected,’ says Bibi, speaking from her home in Peshawar. ‘Our offices have been attacked, our staff have been kidnapped, but 90 per cent of the people here want development and demand our work; only 5 to 10 per cent are miscreants.’
By work, Bibi means her long-standing commitment to empower women through education, better healthcare and job creation. Khwendo Kor – meaning Sister’s Home in the local language, Pashto – has been active in the NWFP for the past 17 years, and was established ‘so women themselves could take the initiative’ in Pakistan’s rural and notoriously hostile tribal communities.
‘I come from Waziristan and I know the situation of women there. I was lucky to get exposure to education – and the credit for that goes to my father, who was courageous enough to educate his daughters – but even being educated I understood how difficult it was to think for yourself as a tribal woman. I wasn’t trying to do anything outside of my religion; I simply wanted to work. I didn’t want to have to be dependent on others just because my husband was not well. When he died I wanted to do things for myself. When I found I was not allowed, culturally, I was shocked. Then, when I came to know other women, I was further shocked – I saw how they were much poorer, not educated. It was then that I decided that I would do something for women. I established this organization to highlight women’s issues, so we could take ownership of our own identity.’
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