Naveed Read online

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.