toshak mat for sleeping or sitting on
wa alaikum as-salaam and upon you be peace
wud’u the cleansing ritual before prayer
Find out more about …
Afghanistan
Behnke, Alison. Afghanistan in Pictures, Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, 2003
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan
http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/2355.html
Conflict in Afghanistan
Chapman, Garry. Global Hotspots: Afghanistan, Macmillan Education, South Yarra, 2008
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12024253
http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/afghanistan/conflict-profile/
Children in Afghanistan
Ellis, Deborah. Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War, Groundwood Books, Toronto, 2012
Ellis, Deborah. Parvana, Allen & Unwin, NSW, 2002
Grant, Neil. The Ink Bridge, Allen & Unwin, NSW, 2012
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan.html
Child labour
http://www.unicef.org.au/About-Us/What-We-Do/Protection.aspx
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/03/afghanistan-child-suicide-bombers
Explosive detection dogs
Dando-Collins, Stephen. Caesar the War Dog, Random House, NSW, 2012
http://www.smh.com.au/national/barking-mad-bombdogs-have-a-ball-sniffing-out-trouble-for-troops-20121119-29m6m.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukLSwPYy2bg
Acknowledgements
In several instances I have used material from other sources that should be acknowledged here.
Malalai Farzana, the female politician in Naveed who calls herself the Voice of the Voiceless, and broadcasts her message of peace and unity to all Afghans, is clearly inspired by the great Afghan politician Malalai Joya.
I have also used the inspiring words of Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani student who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, and subsequently addressed the United Nations. I quote her at the very start of the book, and later I place her words in the mouths of both Anoosheh and Naveed.
When Anoosheh is arguing with her cousin Akmed in Chapter 30, she says: ‘The power of education frightens the Taliban.’
In Chapter 35, Naveed’s thoughts are also couched in Malala’s words: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.
The opening words of Chapter 35 – Zemestan khalas shud – come from Ann Jones’s wonderful book Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan, Picador, New York, 2006.
I used them because they are a cry that Afghans make when the bitter months are over and the hope of spring is in the air. To me that analogy is particularly apt not just for Naveed but for so much about Afghanistan.