Path of Courage Paved with Conviction
by Swanee Hunt, Scripps Howard News Service
June 9, 2024

Two presidents, George Bush and Hamid Karzai, are meeting this week to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. With pockets of violence erupting in the south, the Taliban is again jeopardizing democracy in the country. But Sima Samar has never worried about Taliban threats against her. "If I die, I die," she says, with a broad smile that at first seems incongruous.

As a young girl in Afghanistan, Sima never guessed she'd grow up to become a national leader, let alone international hero. The odds were stacked against her, after all. "I'm a woman, I speak out for women, and I'm a Hazara, one of the minority tribes." But then, courage often emerges in unpredictable circumstances.

When Sima told her father she intended to attend medical school on full scholarship, he replied he'd only allow it if she married. Undaunted, she wed as instructed, setting her own terms for the marriage, and enrolled at Kabul University Medical College in 1975. Three years later, her husband was abducted by the pro-Soviet government. He never returned.

After graduating, Dr. Samar established a rural clinic in an area bereft of medical care. "I went with only a stethoscope and a current medical book." Ever the optimist, Sima continues with a laugh, "I didn't have enough experience, but I tried to help the people.... I was really enjoying that time."

In 1987, as the Soviets withdrew from their occupation of her country, the Afghan physician put her energy into a controversial proposal: a hospital for women and children. She had to promise donors she wouldn't reveal their identities, for their safety. The hospital was repeatedly looted by political parties during its construction, and even when threats were made to her young son, Sima refused to be deterred. She kept him locked in their home for months and armed herself with a pistol. She says her belief in the hospital's importance to the community sustained her; once it opened its doors, the facility treated 300 patients daily.

Sima didn't stop with hospitals. Through Shuhada, the women's and children's empowerment organization she established in 1989, she launched more than 60 schools for more than 40,000 boys and girls. That work was threatened by political changes: The Soviets were replaced by warlords, who fell to Taliban extremists. When the Taliban banned education for females, Sima refused to comply. When one of her girls' schools was ordered to close its upper grades, Sima pretended they didn't exist. When authorities asked why teenage girls were going to the school every day, Sima claimed they were teachers.

Sima Samar eventually had the only girls' high school in the country. As the school blatantly and successfully defied Taliban edicts, the number of death threats its founder received increased dramatically. She responded, "You know where I am. I won't stop doing what I'm doing."

After the fall of the Taliban, Dr. Samar was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of Women's Affairs--without being consulted. She wasn't seeking a government job, but as one of two women named to such a post, she felt obliged to accept. After years of advocating for women to have a voice, she couldn't walk away.

Dr. Samar now chairs Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission--the first in the country's history. Her principled persistence and practicality have led her down a life path she never could have anticipated. She has barreled through intimidating obstacles, one brave decision at a time. Recently, she was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award (dubbed "the Nobel Prize for public service") for her lifelong efforts protecting human rights, healthcare and education in Afghanistan, within a tumultuous political context.

I once thought that "the courage of one's convictions" meant standing up for something. Sima helped me understand that acting on convictions creates courage. Sima saw a problem and offered a solution. And that became the journey of her life, each small movement forward impelled by conviction, guided by decisions that disregard the impossible--decisions to help others, to right a wrong. When asked what motivates her work on egregious human rights abuses, especially given Afghanistan's worsening security, Sima responds, "I am an optimistic person. That's why I keep going." Then that same smile.
Sima Samar would be embarrassed to hear her life described as a heroic road. She'll tell you she's just put one foot in front of another. Back in Afghanistan, with her award in a pile in the corner, she's likely taking her next step.

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