Shabbat Gula or the ”Afghan Girl” is a 45 years old woman who was born in Afghanistan, but there is more to her than those green eyes.
When she was six years old, Soviet Union’s bombing of Afghanistan left her and her siblings parentless. After the unfortunate event, her grandmother thought that is safer if she takes the parentless children to a refugee camp. They ended up being part of the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan. After they established themselves, Shabbat Gula has started to go to an informal school.
Steven McCurry is the person who made her famous by taking an unexpected photo of her. Her green eyes captivated him and made him get an interest in her, but we don’t always get what we want so he lost her and no sign of her has appeared after taking the photo. However, that did not make him quit because after few years, more exactly 17, he decided that this girl must be found. So that’s exactly what he did. Him, along with a few friends went on a ”mission” to find her. After few places, he finally found someone that remembers her and that lead McCurry to her.
This photo is actually a succesful one, especially because of her eyes. The look on her face describes perfectly how scared she was or how confused she was feeling when she saw a man with a camera taking a photo of her.
They say that “Sometimes the best photos are the ones you didn’t plan at all”. This picture is the proof of it. It wasn’t planned. It was just the right moment .
It may not seem interesting for other people or not worth reading about the story of this girl, but in my eyes she seems very brave. Can you imagine loosing your parents and being deported a few times after trying to find a place to call HOME? Some people find it hard to pick up an object from the floor , but this girl has been through things that not even an adult can manage to go through without loosing themselves throughout the journey to finding your peace or a bit of happiness.
To me, this girl still being alive after facing those hardships makes me have the full respect and this proves that you don’t have to meet people personally to respect or admire them.
I may not know her or had a nice tea with her while we’re talking about life, but usually when you don’t know people you tend to ask questions or even worse, to judge. That does not apply to me with her because in a recent interview she talked about her life and it makes me feel proud that people like her don’t give up. Because WINNERS DON’T QUIT AND QUITTERS DON’T WIN.
Shabbat Gula has been deported quite a few times and this may be the ”cherry on top of the cake” because after not feeling safe enough to live in Afghanistan, she has no choice but the move and be a refugee in another country.
Honestly, people causing wars destroy families and make those affected leave their own country because they can’t risk to get killed and may not see the daylight of tomorrow. But this is a story for another time because now is Shabbat Gula’s turn to shine and show people that picking up an object from the floor doesn’t even compare to those who need to make decisions that could change their whole lives.
Respect to Shabbat Gula for becoming the women she is today!