Join us on International Women’s Day for a community conversation, Shujaat: Celebrating Afghan Women’s Resilience. This is a free event for anyone in the community to attend and is on Wednesday, March 8 at 5:00 pm at the Seattle Opera Center. Come and learn more about the vital work being done in our community to support local Afghan women refugees as well as women still living in Afghanistan.
Then, stay for a complimentary reception sponsored by the Center for Women and Democracy, also at the Opera Center.
Finally, all are invited to a world premiere performance of the opera A Thousand Splendid Suns directed by Afghan Roya Sadat, with costume and cultural consultation by Afghan Rika Sadat and music by Sheila Silver, at the adjacent McCaw Hall.
Where: Seattle Center
- Seattle Opera Center for the panel and reception
- McCaw Hall for the opera performance
Date:
- Wednesday, March 8th
Time:
- 5:00 pm: Community Conversation at Opera Center
- 6:15 pm: Reception at Opera Center
- 7:30 pm: A Thousand Splendid Suns Opera at McCaw Hall
Cost:
- Panel and reception free, registration is required.
- Opera performance of A Thousand Splendid Suns $50 with discount code MARIAM50.
- Buy tickets online or by calling Audience Services at 206-389-7676.
- Complementary access to the performance will be arranged by participating organizations for panelists, their clients and their staff.
Our moderator & panelists
Humaira Ghilzai
Humaira is a writer, speaker, producer, educator and Afghanistan cultural advisor. She co-founded the non-profit Afghan Friends Network and instituted the Sister City relationship between Hayward, California, and Ghazni, Afghanistan where she has done extensive work for the past 18 years to improve education for girls, boys, and women.
Mahnaz Eshetu
Mahnaz is the executive director of Refugee Women’s Alliance, which has five locations in King County. ReWA’s 150 staff speak over 50 languages and dialects and deliver bilingual and bicultural services to help clients learn English and job-related skills, find employment, maintain stability and eventually thrive in their adoptive country.
Ming-Ming Tung-Edelman
In 2017, Ming-Ming founded the non-profit organization Refugee Artisan Initiative (RAI) to give back to the community. Language barriers and cultural differences make it challenging for immigrant and refugee women to discover how to create work opportunities when they arrive in the US. RAI help connect the women's artisan skills with job opportunities so they can contribute to their family and community. In many cases, they help the women receive their first personal paycheck in the US.
Shogofa Amini
Shogofa’s childhood education was interrupted in 1996 due to the ascendancy of the Taliban, but she has since dedicated her life to learning and service, with a focus on the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan. She began contributing poetry to the Afghan Women’s Writing Project in 2009 and attended the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) in 2010 before making her way to the U.S. to further her education.
In addition to her studies, Shogofa served as an intern for the Feminist Majority Foundation, contributing to a project aimed at providing more educational programs for women in Afghanistan. She also worked in the office of U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, researching immigration issues.
Use discount code MARIAM50 for $50 tickets.