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 Colors of Peace
After the tribal elders in a remote Pakistani village found a 12 year old boy guilty of a crime he did not commit, they ordered “his” punishment: the gang rape of his older sister by 4 adult men, in front of the other men of the village. In rural Pakistan, such “honor” punishments are common, occurring at a rate of more than one a day. Typically, the woman’s life is ruined. This woman, Mukhtar Mai, broke the pattern. She says, "I had only three choices. Either to commit suicide by jumping in a well or shed tears all my life like any other victim in such cases. Or I could challenge the cruel feudal and tribal system and harsh attitudes of society." That last course was unheard of, and it was the course she took. Uneducated, poor, unknown, she took the elders and the rapists to court, and won. The extraordinary heroism of that move provided hope and courage to women in Pakistan, and beyond. But Mukhtar did not stop there. She took a giant step beyond retribution to restitution. The court awarded her the equivalent of $9,400 U.S. Mukhtar, who had never seen a school, used the funds to build the first two schools in her village, one for girls and one for boys. Among the enrollees are the children of the men who raped her. The schools are a lifeline into a new future for those children, and they are a lifeline for Mukhtar. “Because of the students there are colors in my life.” Mukhtar lives under 24-hour police guard, in the intersection between the international acclaim that protects her and the resentment of the many villagers who still want to silence her. Yet she has no intention of leaving; this is her home. As more support flows in, she is intending to create schools in other rural villages, changing the world one child at a time. Resources: |
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