As the first Afghan refugee to come to the US in 1978, Sima Wali is going home

Sima Wali will return to Afghanistan with Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, the first American journalists to enter Kabul behind Soviet lines in 1981. This will be a symbolic journey to witness as Sima reconnects to her homeland while accessing the needs of grass roots organizations to determine the success of international aid. As one of the signers of the Bonn agreement that established the goals of the new government of Afghanistan, Sima will also access how the needs of Afghans are being met by the Karzai government as well. It will also be the fulfillment of hope sparked when this trio first met up on Women's Day, 1998. It was the beginning of a collaboration dedicated to one issue, returning Afghanistan to the Afghan people. Paul and Elizabeth will focus special attention on the emerging role of a journalistic community capable of supporting the needs of a democratic Afghanistan.

Story Focus: Since 9/11 much has happened to bring the full Afghanistan story and its implications into sharp focus for an American audience now. But that window of opportunity will close without the constant vigilance of the media to the importance of this story. Afghanistan is the key to understanding nothing less than Western Civilization itself. From Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union, tiny Afghanistan has played a ritual part in the changing of the guard throughout the history of the West. And as today's Afghans struggle out from under the tyranny of oppression left behind from the war, they become the measure of the West's belief in it's own ideals.

THE WOMAN IN EXILE RETURNS

"We lived near the palace so we heard the sounds of the fighting. The phone lines were down. The radio was dead. Then the tales of horror began pouring in."
- Sima Wali Kabul, Afghanistan 1978

She is at home among heads of State, a lineage of Afghan royalty. Her strength, bearing and character distinguish her from the crowd. Yet, her uniquely Afghan beauty, her innate serenity draws the crowd to her. She is Sima Wali, President of Refugee Women in Development, a most prominent voice of Afghanistan today.

Sima's strength disguises the immense sorrow she carries for her 10,000 year old culture; a culture extinguished by an East/West conflict that consumed her homeland. Fueled by radical fundamentalism for over 2 decades, Afghans faced daily horrors that are simply unimaginable to Western eyes. Yet after helping the United States destroy the Soviet war-machine their fate was ignored. And as the terrorists trained with US aid now undermine our security and freedoms, can we help Sima and the Afghanistan she carries in her soul resurrect itself?

What had come like a thief in the night to the young and sheltered Sima of 1978 grew into the nightmare of 9/11. As Sima's 24 year journey opened her eyes to the dark side of world politics it also forced her to empower herself. "I have dreamed for so long about going home. But now I have been away so long I know I would not feel at home there as well. It is the plight of the woman in exile. It is like being torn between two worlds. But my hope, my last hope is that somewhere between those worlds there is the possibility of becoming comfortable in both."

Sima Wali, President of Refugee Women in Development- (RefWID), Inc., is an Afghan activist living in exile in the United States. Ms. Wali has worked for over 20 years to empower uprooted women to assert their human rights and to participate in economic and social development.Ms. Wali is the recipient of numerous awards for her pioneering work in developing program models aimed at the empowerment of women caught conflict, democratic civil society-building of war-torn societies, gender, forced migration, and human rights. She has been honored by the Women Donors Network, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, the National Conference for College Women Graduate Leaders. She was the recipient of the Gloria Steinem: Women of Vision Award for her pioneering work in addressing violence against refugee women in the United States. Ms. Wali was the recipient of Amnesty International's 1999 Ginetta Sagan human rights award for her work with Afghan women. Visit her website at www.refwid.org for current activities.

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, a husband and wife team, began their experience when they were the first American journalists to acquire permission to enter Afghanistan behind Soviet lines in 1981. They covered that story first for CBS News and produced a one hour documentary, Afghanistan Between Three Worlds, for PBS. In 1983 they returned to Kabul with Harvard Negotiation project leader Roger Fisher for ABC Nightline and contributed to the MacNeil/Lehrer New Hour.

As the first Americans journalists to get deeply inside the story they not only got a view of an unappreciated Afghan life, but a revelatory look at how the US defined itself against the veil of Superpower confrontation. This led to understanding the Zoroastrian war of the light against the dark and how its origins in Afghanistan still permeate Washington's official policy. They published Afghanistan the End of Illusion September 2001, detailing the American political back story that lead to the Soviet invasion. The book they are currently finishing, the Apostle's Diary, describes their evolution from journalists to Apostles of Afghanistan. It will explain why it was inevitable that the U.S. should end up in Afghanistan, the ancient home of the Western Dream. Recently they have been lecturing on journalism and Afghanistan.