I just got this video in my inbox from a listserv I’m a member of. I loved seeing all the Afghan girls playing and learning to read. And I loved the beautiful lullaby.
Does anyone know anything about Samar Minallah (the maker of the video)?
Allaho: An Afghan Lullaby for Daughters
– February 23, 2011Posted in: Snippets
Thanks so much for this, Heather! I loved seeing how happy the kids were, smiling at the camera… and the characters of those kids fighting over that hat!!
We’re not so different at all – I see the same expressions and humanity in my own kids. I wish we weren’t bulldozering so many of their homes right about now. I really hope that peace will come to the area soon.
I also loved it, Andy. And yes, it’s just insane that we are continuing to destroy people’s homes, communities, etc.
I asked my Afghan friends and found out a bit more about this lullaby. The version in the post is by Naghma, singing in Pashto. Pashto is the language of the Pashtun people of Afghanistan. But my friends tell me that the original version is in Hazaragi, a dialect of the Dari language which is similar to Farsi (Persian) that is spoken in Iran, spoken by Afghanistan’s Hazara population. For those of you who have read The Kite Runner, you may remember the servant boy Hassan, who was a Hazara. The Hazara people have a fascinating culture and tragic history, as they have been oppressed and slaughtered many time over the ages, including being targeted and slaughtered by the thousands by the Taliban. Hazaras are still persecuted and killed in Afghanistan today, as well as in surrounding countries such as Pakistan and Iran. They endure a lot of discrimination and abuse, which is why many of the Afghan refugees we see around the world today are Hazara. They are easy targets because of their Asian features, which are widely believed to stem from the Mongolian invasion by Genghis Khan.
The Hazaras are sometimes referred to as Afghanistan’s best hope for the future, as their literacy and education rates — particularly among girls and women — are significantly higher than in other ethnic groups. Their women generally enjoy more freedom by Afghan standards than, for example, Pashtun women. I am told by my friends that the burqa, which many associate with Afghan women, would never be worn by a Hazara woman unless by force (i.e. in Taliban or predominantly Pashtun areas).
They sent me this link to share with you, with the same song being sung in Hazaragi.
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to personally know many Afghans and especially Hazaras the past year and they have become a huge part of my life. I encourage you all to take a look at this great article by National Geographic about the Hazara people. Most of you will remember the Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban a few years ago. These statues belonged to the Hazara people and were a sense of pride for their culture and Buddhist past. More info about that <a href="http://www.hazarapeople.com/2011/02/25/bamiyan-buddhas-once-glowed-in-red-white-and-blue/"here.
Sorry, that last link didn’t go through. Try again here.