At the front of a room packed full of about 300 women, all donning orange headscarves, a girl with her face fully covered begins her recitation of the Koran. To be honest its the most beautiful rendition I have heard and the room is silent in reverence. However half way through there is a muttering that starts from the back of the room and gets louder. As I turn my head I realise the reason for the disruption Rula Ghani (Bibi Gul as she is often known here), the president's wife, has just arrived. Shortly after this the noise of a helicopter landing fills the auditorium and the same muttering begins as this time Hamid Karzai, former president arrives. It is at this moment I realise two things; this meeting might be more interesting than I first thought, and this is why they were so interested in knowing what my Kindle was (note to self don't take bizarre electronics without a touch screen to ministries).
Just be clear, at the point Karzai and the first lady arrive I have already been sitting in my seat for two hours! The invitation said 8-12 (no lunch- which means it will end on time). Having been here a few years now I know this means it won't start on time and so me and my (male) translator arrive fashionably late (or so we thought) and get there at 8.30. At 9.00 others start arriving. I have a good time getting to know my translator better,checking out the fashion statements (including no headscarves) and watching the few men trying to work out how to wear a bright orange headscarf with dignity - think tango advert and you might be halfway there! We also get given water, juice and a bag full of information in Dari (good material for my next language lesson).
At 10.30 the girl gets up to recite the Koran.
So this is a meeting being hosted by the Ministry of Women's affairs and so after the muttering has died down and the recitation is finished the Minister gets up to speak. She is an articulate woman, and after the greetings she moves on to talk about how Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a problem in Afghanistan and how she wants to work to reduce this, she lists some of the measures she would like to implement; including training female teachers in rural areas so that girls can be educated more easily, and that women who are imprisoned will be given legal representation. All she says seems to be positive.
Her speech is followed by others, women get up to speak on behalf of the president, vice president, chief executive officer, the first lady (speaks for herself) and a representative of the UN. They all also talk about their plans for the future and how this is something on the governments agenda.
The whole meeting is a positive experience, but the thing that leaves the most lasting impression is that there was a room full of educated women interested in building a positive future for this country. That and how quickly a room can empty when the meeting finishes bang on lunchtime!
