The Advocate

By ELAINE LAFFERTY

Soraya Parlika didn't have to run secret schools for young women when the Taliban ruled Kabul. She didn't have to open her home for meetings on women's rights in a place that spat on the concept. She is, after all, the daughter of wealthy parents, the sister of a former Foreign Minister, a university graduate; she could have fled to the West long ago. But her parents always told her to care about the poor, and Afghanistan's women are among the poorest. "I promised myself years ago that I would fight for the women of Afghanistan," says Parlika, 57. She had to keep that promise even during 18 months in jail in the late 1970s, when the government wanted the names of the women in her organization. On her arms she has the scars of cigarette burns, souvenirs of her refusal to cooperate.

Now she is getting the recognition she deserves--reporters often come to sit on her sofa and chat--but the future of the nation's women remains uncertain. The interim government has two women in leadership roles, but in a chilling echo of the past, the Northern Alliance has asked for the names of the 4,000 women in her civil rights group. Still, Parlika is hopeful that this time her work will bear fruit. "This is just the beginning," she says.

--By Elaine Lafferty