Читать книгу Gathering Strength: - Peggy Kelsey - Страница 16

Saghar

Painter

I became interested in drawing when I was eight years old in primary school. I made some little drawings in my notebooks and people said that they were good. But no one taught me any art until I reached the university. This is my last year.

In Kabul in 2003, a friend offered me access to the Herat applications for the US Fulbright Scholarship Program. I was planning to spend time there and looking to round out my selection of subjects. I chose to interview Saghar because she was an artist. Her well-written Fulbright essay, in English, led me to think I wouldn’t need a translator. When I met Saghar, however, I realized that her English wasn’t good enough for me to do an adequate interview. She had hired a scribe to write her essay. Considered cheating in the West, it would be traditional and logical in a country where illiteracy is high. I offered to call off the interview but she wouldn’t hear of it. Since Saghar didn’t know any women who could translate, her husband, who wanted to be present, eventually found a male friend who could, and the four of us sat down for the interview.

Saghar has lived her entire life in Herat, a conservative, historic trading center near the border with Iran. Her school was shut down in 1994 when the Taliban controlled the city, so her parents hired a private tutor. Her college entrance scores were high enough to qualify for the Herat University law school. She chose to study art instead. She was married in 2001 and as of 2003 had one son.