“Learn this now and learn this well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman.”
(1.1.26)
“A Thousand Splendid Suns”, the story tells the life of two Afghani women in the last 30 years that makes your jaw drop and making you beg for more and encourages you to help even more.
Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of a rich and well-known business man in Herat; she lived in the countryside of Herat, in a small house with her mother. Every day she waited until late for her father to arrive and spend at least a couple of minutes and she did it with more enthusiasm on her birthday, until she notice that being the illegitimate daughter of a maid was not honorable enough to have the attention and love of her father.
Mariam’s marriage with a shoemaker from Kabul was not exactly what she wanted for her future, but because of her past, that was the only option she had and unfortunately it was the way she will have to get used to live for her entire life. When Mariam and Laila’s life crossed paths caused by unfortunately events, they will never thought that the rivalry between they caused by the marriage of Laila and Rasheed was going to become a strong spider plant which will make them give their life to save each other, fight for their family to survive and finding better ways of living.
A book that will make you think and valuate how fortunate you are as a women to have the opportunities that you have now days, but unfortunately not all women enjoy them or they are not as privilege as us. It invites you to fight for your rights, for all that voices that have been quiet, for a world in which gender violence is over and quality education, as well as free is everywhere, no matter your religion, gender, age or economic status.
A lecture totally recommended to live a piece of the lives of those women that fight every day to improve their live, transporting you to those moments and situations, making you more emphatic not only with the characters, with the people in same situations too. The little step you need to take to give the importance this issues need to have to improve the world we live in.
Written by:
Ayelén Reyes Meza
About the Author
Ayelén Reyes Meza is a bright young eighteen year old student from Mexico. She is an advocate for change that strives to do her best for those around her. As a volunteer within the Lives For Literacy movement she is extremely committed to making literacy available to everyone. She aspires to grow as the movement does, encouraging those around her as well as to share her knowledge to others as well as learn from them.
Lives For Literacy 