Helmand library opens new chapter for Afghan women
Health worker funds facility to promote women’s rights in male-dominated region
As a nurse at a local hospital in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, Homaira Nawroozi says she is used to hearing female patients recount their experiences of forced marriage, domestic violence and even torture.
However, one particular incident from more than two years ago stands out — when she discovered a woman who had lost an arm and a leg in an explosion lying inconsolable in a hospital ward.
“The patient was crying not because she had become disabled, possibly for life, but because her husband was planning to remarry to take care of the family and himself,” Nawroozi told Arab News over the phone from Helmand province. Helmand — Afghanistan’s largest province at about 60,000 sq km, or roughly the size of Ireland — is often referred to as the Taliban’s heartland and was the scene of some of the group’s bloodiest battles since their ouster in a US-led invasion nearly 20 years ago. Nawroozi, 22, said she felt driven to “do something to help the women,” several of whom lacked knowledge about even basic rights. She shared her idea with Shereen Wafa, head of Helmand’s Women’s Affairs Department, who offered Nawroozi a room in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah that once had been used as a women’s-only library but had been closed for years during the Taliban’s rule and after the militants’ fall.
Tucked away behind several government buildings subjected to frequent attacks by the Taliban, the library in Lashkar Gah drew only a handful of women due to the insecurity in the area.
The library is housed in a small rented shop, which Nawroozi pays for from the salary she earns at the hospital.
The library with 850 books in the Pashtu and Dari languages is named after the Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura, who spent 40 years implementing aid projects in Afghanistan and was killed by gunmen in the eastern Nangarhar province in 2019.
“Dr. Nakamura was a remarkable personality who dedicated his entire life to helping Afghans. So, as a small tribute, the least I could do was to name the library after him,” Nawroozi said, paying homage to the 73-year-old aid worker whose death triggered an outpouring of grief in the country. Since its launch in January, Nawroozi’s initiative has been a hit among locals.