Letters to My Daughters (20 page)

My loving mother, Bibi jan.

My father, Wakil Abdul Rahman.

A happy adolescence surrounded by family.

My father's house in the Koof district, more than one hundred years old.

I chose a pink dress for
nikah,
the first part of the wedding ceremony with Hamid.
It was a vibrant pink that shone a beam of joy amid all the misery of living under the Taliban regime.

Hamid was everything to me, a true and great Afghan man

My brother Mirshakay was always one of my most loyal supporters. Here he is surrounded by his children during a birthday.

Pilgrimage to Mecca. My faith has helped me overcome life's most difficult hardships
.

I like visiting in the field with the Badakhshani workers.

A speech to a rural Badakhshani community during my electoral campaign in September 2010.

Conversing with a group of illiterate women during my campaign in the rural areas of Badakhshan in September 2010.

Handing out pens to children in 2010.

With Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper. To my right, Sabrina Saqib,
the youngest member of parliament.