Speaker addresses women and war

   Fahima Vorgetts’ talk brought the struggle of women in Afghanistan to the University at Albany.

   In conjunction with Women’s History Month, the UAlbany Women’s Studies Department is hosting a series of lectures, which Vorgetts’ talk kicked off last Wednesday.

   Vorgetts, born and raised in Afghanistan, knows first-hand what it is like to feel the oppression of being a woman in the Middle East.  That is why she has been fighting for the equality of women in Afghanistan as the director of the Afghan Women’s Fund.

   “My goal is to empower women,” Vorgetts said. “I want to teach them how to be self-sufficient and educated.”

   With half of the population being women, it is extremely important that they are educated.

   “They are the mothers of our future,” Vorgetts said. “If they are not educated where is the country going to go?”

   Working towards the improvement of life for women in Afghanistan, the programs

Vorgetts has been working on focus on bringing clean water to towns, schools for girls, income generation for widows, and raising the overall literacy of women.

   The lecture focused on Vorgetts’ experience but also brought up the idea that a military presence in Afghanistan is not the way to improve quality of life for the  women and men of Afghanistan.

   “These programs are the alternative to war,” Vorgetts said.  “We can see improvement with no deaths.”

   To help emphasize Vorgetts claim, a portion of the film “Why are we in Afghanistan?” by Prof. Michael Zweig was shown.

   The film, which deals exclusively with the reasoning behind the war in Afghanistan, is centered on the idea that there is no battlefield solution to terrorism.

   It claims that what we are doing in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries is not going to fix the bigger problems that they face.

   Petitions were signed and the group Women Against War was present, adding to the underlying anti-war messages that Vorgetts and the movie put across.

   “Someone needs to stand up against the war,” Sana Masih, a junior human biology major, said. 

   There were over 60 students in attendance and many shared Masih’s belief, feeling that something needs to be done to end the violence we are fueling overseas.

   Vorgetts advocated that anyone can make a difference by doing things like: donating to the fund for a new well that is being built in an Afghan village or participating in the March on Washington this Sat. March 20 in Washington, D.C.

   Vorgetts asked all of those in attendance to give whatever they could.  “The world is like a body and if part of the body if hurting then the whole body hurts.  If we don’t help them how can there be peace?”

   Other schools in the area are also giving what they can to help facilitate Vorgetts newest project, the goal of which is to raise $10,000.

   For more information on donating call 518-465-0582 or e-mail lilyconnie@verizon.net.