From Afghanistan to spring break
Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:13 PM
By Kerry Sanders, NBC News Correspondent
We always hear how small our world has become, and here’s a real-life example.
Six years ago, while on assignment in northern Afghanistan, I met the Nazir family.
The Nazirs are a small family: A husband, wife, son and daughter.
Farah Naz Nazir, the mother, was a women’s rights activist. The Taliban did not control that northern region. It was ruled by the so-called Northern Alliance.
But the Northern Alliance shared one Taliban value: a woman’s worth.
Afghanistan can be a tough place to be a woman.
This is the land of the bhurka, a robe that covers a woman head-to-toe.
It was just one of the many repressive impositions women endure.
The Nazir women didn’t take kindly to the rules.
Only 9 years old, Vida Nazir should not have had to wear a bhurka. Bhurkas are usually worn by a girl once she’s had her first period.
But the aged male school principal demanded all girls cover up.
Vida said no. Her mother agreed.
After talking to me at NBC News, and to other western reporters, her story got out.
When her harsh words about the bhurka, and about women’s rights in general, were reported in the western media, the principal and the Northern Alliance eventually heard what she said.
They demanded she take back what she said or they would kill the entire Nazir family. In this part of the world, what you say can have life or death consequences.
Farah Naz, with daughter Vida at her side, stood their ground. They went into hiding and disappeared.
I’ve been in touch with them over the years via e-mail. So I knew Vida and her mother made it to safety.
But who would have guessed that in 2008, Vida, now 15 years old, would be in Florida on spring break.
I met Vida on the edge of the Florida everglades. I figured it was a unique spot for someone who has seen so much. Even someone who has lived in a repressive war zone is fascinated with alligators.
Vida is now a gangly teenager. She has the same issues any teenager would have: Boyfriends. What to wear? What’s cool and uncool.
But she also has a unique take among her friends about life. She says, from her experience being hunted by people who wanted to kill her, she realizes how short life can be.
Again, this from a 15-year-old.
What does she miss from Afghanistan?
The cows.
Yes, the cows.
Click here to hear Vida talk about the cows and her life.
