Finding Happiness

Beaten by her father, she escaped from home and landed in a shelter that helped put her life back together and find a new family...

Too poor to afford a traditional marriage, he went to the Afghan human rights commission to ask for help in finding a wife... and he found her.

Through the shelter, they found each other and happiness. The above pictures are from their wedding day: in the first, she says goodbye to friends as she starts a life with a new family. In the second, as the couple arrives at the wedding party, a man slaughters a chicken in a tradition for which I have yet to find the meaning. Please let me know if you know the significance of this act.

I'm currently writing this story; more to come.

Meanwhile, stop by your newsstand and pick up the winter 2009 issue of Ms. magazine, featuring my story about the lives of Afghan women amid rising violence and a resurgent Taliban movement. (You can also order the magazine online here.) The latest Ms. is a special inaugural issue, with a picture of Obama on the cover in the role of SuperFeminist. Check it out.