The culturally mixed background of the Afghan-American Muslim keynote speaker fit well with the diverse attendees from 21 countries at the first 鈥淔rontier Luncheon鈥� during the six-week .
Palwasha L. Kakar told the audience of about 100 that her religious faith underpins all her efforts to empower women across the Islamic world. 鈥淚n the field, it鈥檚 really faith that allows us to overcome obstacles,鈥� she said in her May 6 speech, facilitated in part by the at 黑料正能量.
Tailoring her message to the professional peacebuilders in her audience, Kakar outlined two projects under her purview as senior program officer for Religion and Peacebuilding at the : (1) mapping the religious sector of Libya and (2) promoting women鈥檚 rights within the Islamic constitutional framework of Afghanistan.
For the pacifist Christians present, however, the glimpse she provided of her background may have been even more interesting. Kakar鈥檚 undergraduate degree came from a sister Mennonite institution, Bethel College in Kansas.
Kakar rushed through highlights of her personal story to focus on the situations in Libya and Afghanistan. The following fleshed-out version of her history was culled from three Bethel College news articles, all pertaining to her 2014 selection as Bethel College鈥檚 Young Alumnus. The extracts are republished courtesy of Bethel鈥檚 writer, Melanie Zuercher.聽 — Bonnie Price Lofton
Daughter of culturally mixed marriage
Kakar鈥檚 mother grew up Mennonite in the Midwest. 鈥淲hen she married my father, she agreed to raise the children Muslim,鈥� Kakar said. 鈥淲hen she was pregnant with me, the first child, she went to study Islam with a Muslim women鈥檚 group, and she decided to convert to Islam.鈥�
Kakar was born in Seattle and spent her first 11 years there.
鈥淲hen I was growing up, my mother was in medical school and my father was working on a PhD, and my Mennonite grandparents came to take care of me. My grandmother would take me to Friday prayers [at the mosque] and stay to listen to the sermon. On Sunday, she would take me to church, so I grew up also hearing Mennonite hymns.鈥�
In 1989, the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan after a 10-year occupation. 鈥淢y parents were eager to go back to Afghanistan. However, because of the ongoing war and conflict, we only got as far as Peshawar, where I met my extended family in a refugee camp.
鈥淚 quickly noticed that of all the girl cousins, I was the only one going to school. Their families, especially my uncles, wouldn鈥檛 let them go. I would get into conversations with my uncles 鈥� which pushed me to understand their very traditional mentality.
Changing through faith-based conversations
鈥淭hrough this kind of discussion, I found what could really convince them was that, in Islam, it is not only girls鈥� right, it鈥檚 their obligation, to be educated. Along with my parents, I was able to convince my uncles to allow their daughters to go to school.
鈥淣ow one of my cousins is a teacher, one is in medical school and others are continuing their education. I realized the importance of talking at the level people are at, and how important faith is in helping people think differently.
鈥淲e hear from the IMF and the World Bank how women鈥檚 education is connected to the economic strength and health of a country. In places like Afghanistan and Libya, it鈥檚 important to get this information out, but also to frame it in the context of religion.鈥�
When Kakar came to Bethel, she was leaving a 鈥渧ery conservative鈥� Muslim context and coming to the Mennonite one of her [maternal] grandparents, Ruth and Erwen Graber.
鈥淚n both, faith was very important,鈥� Kakar said. 鈥淚t was the lens through which to view the world.鈥�
The lens of conflict resolution
She continued, 鈥淎t Bethel, I took classes in conflict resolution and mediation with a goal of educating other societies, especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan, on women鈥檚 rights, and of understanding gender and Islam from a perspective that would help expand women鈥檚 rights in Muslim countries and societies.鈥�
Kakar has always felt strongly that 鈥渋t was important to work carefully from within the context, the framework 鈥� not push an ideology [such as 鈥榞lobal human rights鈥橾 from outside.鈥�
Many non-governmental organizations shied away from any kind of faith-based development work, she said, but her experience told her that in conservative Islamic societies, the only agenda that would work was a religious one.
At the Asia Foundation, with which she spent most of the last decade in a variety of roles, she found one NGO willing to say, 鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to work in a religious framework, it鈥檚 good to work with religious leaders,鈥� she said.
Among the many things she did was organize tours for religious leaders from Afghanistan to see how leaders in other Islamic societies 鈥� such as Turkey, Malaysia and India 鈥� worked on community issues, especially related to gender.
鈥淲omen and men went on separate tours,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut when they came back, we asked them to reflect on their experience together. It was an experiment鈥� 鈥� one that became as important a lesson to the men about the gifts of educated, articulate women as the tours themselves.
鈥淎ll these bearded men were nodding their heads, saying, 鈥榊es, we agree with you, sister.鈥� There was suddenly no Us and Them. They all had the same cause. That was amazing to see.鈥�
Community-based discussions
Another project Kakar worked on was organizing community discussion groups, which she based upon faith discussions she鈥檚 experienced at Bethel.
She took that idea about 鈥渟afe space鈥� into creating a place where men, in particular 鈥� the religious leaders and community elders 鈥� could experience 鈥渁n internal process led by faith.鈥�
The discussions in the community groups centered on women鈥檚 rights within Islam, Kakar said, 鈥渋llustrated with personal experiences, stories and case studies. These became places where some things began to be resolved, where a woman鈥檚 rights were protected鈥� 鈥� for example, land inheritance or the choice not to marry.
鈥淩eligious leaders told us that when we began the groups, they were hesitant to talk about domestic violence and other issues openly within the community. Hearing the experiences of leaders when they did speak out helped other leaders gain the courage to speak that they hadn鈥檛 had before.鈥�
The community discussion groups would not have succeeded, Kakar said, 鈥渨ithout the acceptance of it being all right to approach situations from a faith basis, [a value] I attribute to my Bethel education and to the Asia Foundation being open to this approach.鈥�
New openness to faith-based work
As other NGOs observed the success of the groups, they began asking for the material to use in their own work.
鈥淣ow the tide is changing,鈥� Kakar said. 鈥淭here is much more openness to using a faith-based approach and to work with religious leaders to change attitudes toward women and their rights.鈥�
Kakar did her undergraduate work in global studies, and Bible and religion, graduating from Bethel in 1999. Her first job was director of the Newton Area Peace Center, which is now Peace Connections.
After earning a certificate in intensive Arabic-language study at Zarka (Jordan) Private University, Kakar began graduate studies at Harvard University, completing a master鈥檚 degree in 2004 in theological studies, focused on gender, religion and politics.
Kakar is fluent in Pashto and English, proficient in Dari, and has basic knowledge of Urdu and Arabic. She has written extensively on women鈥檚 rights in Afghanistan and Iran.