Mud City (12 page)

“What do you care?” Farzana asked. “You’re going
to the sea.”

“That’s right,” Shauzia said. “Now that my cast is
off, I’ll be heading out.”

“You’re not taking me with you, are you?” Farzana
asked.

Shauzia didn’t reply.

“It’s all right,” Farzana said. “Mrs. Weera told
me you wouldn’t, but I already knew.”

Shauzia didn’t know what to say. She stroked Jasper’s soft
fur. She didn’t like what she was feeling.

“So why do you just sit here?” Farzana asked. “Why
don’t you go?”

“I am going,” Shauzia said. “I’m just resting
first. It’s a long way to the sea.”

“Rest someplace else,” Farzana said. “I
don’t want to be around you right now.”

“I was sitting here before you were.”

“Do you have to have everything your way? I’m staying right
where I am. You leave.”

“All right, I’d be glad to.” Shauzia got to her feet.
“Just about anybody would be better company than you. Come on, Jasper.”

Jasper rolled his brown eyes to look at her, but his head stayed in
Farzana’s lap.

“Stupid dog,” Shauzia said, and she stalked off away from
them.

She found a place to sit against the compound wall, where she didn’t
have to look at anyone. Then she took the magazine photo of France out of her
pocket.

Maybe it was the dim evening light. Maybe it was her anger at Jasper for
choosing Farzana over her. Whatever it was, for some reason the field of purple flowers
didn’t look so inviting anymore. In fact, it looked a little dull.

Shauzia put the picture back in her pocket and leaned against the wall.
For a long while, she sat and thought.

“They’re leaving! Mrs. Weera’s leaving!”

Shauzia heard the call and got to her feet.
She had
to see them leave. She had to make certain Mrs. Weera was well and truly going.

Everyone from the compound gathered in the courtyard to say goodbye.
Shauzia hung back, watching, wanting to run away, but feeling compelled to stay.

Mrs. Weera sought her out. She wrapped Shauzia in one of her giant
hugs.

“You are a precious, precious child,” Mrs. Weera said softly.
“I hope you get to the sea. I hope France welcomes you with open arms. They would
be lucky to get you.”

Mrs. Weera released her and joined her nurses. With one final wave, they
left the compound.

The others drifted off to their homes. Shauzia, Farzana and Jasper stood
in the doorway and watched the women walk away.

“They’d be so much safer if they had a man with them,”
Shauzia said.

“Or even a boy,” Farzana said.

Without another thought, Shauzia sprang into action. She fetched her
shoulder bag and blanket shawl from the hut. She stopped briefly where Farzana and
Jasper were standing.

“Take care of Jasper,” she said to Farzana.
“If the two of you get to the sea, give him a bath in the waves with
this.” She handed Farzana the bit of flowery soap from Tom and Barbara. Then she
reached into her pocket, took out the photo of the lavender field, and gave that to
Farzana, too.

Finally she bent down and hugged Jasper hard. She knew he wouldn’t
mind that she was crying.

Shauzia left the compound then, and headed off to meet Mrs. Weera and the
nurses.

She had almost twenty years before she had to meet her friend Parvana at
the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She’d get there. But first she had a little
job to do.

Mrs. Weera had long legs. Shauzia had to run to catch up to her.

Afghanistan is a small country that lies between Europe and Asia. It
contains mountain ranges, fast-flowing rivers and golden deserts. Its fertile valleys
once produced an abundance of fruit, wheat and vegetables.

Throughout history, explorers and traders have passed through Afghanistan
and tried to control it for their own interests. The country has been more or less
continuously at war since 1978, when American-backed fighters opposed the
Soviet-supported government. In 1980, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and the war
escalated, with the United States backing Afghan freedom fighters, many of whom were war
lords. The fighting was fierce, cruel and prolonged.

After the Soviets were defeated in 1989, a civil war erupted, as various
groups fought for control of the country. Millions of Afghans became refugees, and some
still live in huge camps in Pakistan, Iran and Russia. Many people have spent their
whole lives in these camps, and millions of Afghans have been killed, maimed or
blinded.

The Taliban militia, one of the groups that the US and Pakistan once
funded, trained and armed, took control of the capital city of Kabul in September 1996.
They imposed extremely restrictive laws on girls and women. Schools for girls were
closed down, women were no longer allowed to hold jobs, and strict dress codes were
enforced. Books were burned, televisions smashed, and music in any form was
forbidden.

In the fall of 2001, al Qaeda, a terrorist group based in Afghanistan and
protected by the Taliban, launched attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in
New York City. In response, the United States led a coalition of nations into bombing
Afghanistan and drove the Taliban from power. Elections were held and a new government
and constitution were set up. A number of schools for boys and girls were opened, and in
some parts of the country women were allowed back into the work force.

However, Afghanistan is far from being a nation of peace, for many
reasons. The Taliban has returned to fight a very effective guerrilla war against the
government and foreign forces. Afghanistan has become a major producer of opium, from
which heroin is made. There is a great deal of corruption at all levels of government.
Finally, Afghans, like people around the world, are uncomfortable with foreign forces
fighting in their country. Struggles for women’s rights continue as well, with girls’
schools being burned and women activists being assassinated.

There are no easy answers for the people of Afghanistan as they face such
a difficult situation. Learning more about this beautiful, tragic country and its
wonderful people is one small way to try to avoid the many mistakes outsiders have made
that have brought Afghans to this difficult time in their history.

Badakhshan
– A province of northeast Afghanistan.

burqa
– A long, tent-like garment worn by women. It covers the
entire body and has a narrow mesh screen over the eyes.

chador
– A piece of cloth worn by women and girls to cover their
hair and shoulders.

charpoy
– A bed consisting of a frame strung with tapes or light
rope.

Dari
– One of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan.

Genghis Khan
– The Mongol conqueror (1162-1227) who formed a vast
empire that stretched from China to Persia.

karachi
– A cart on wheels pushed by hand, used to sell things in
the market.

nan
– Afghan bread. It can be flat, long or round.

Pashtu
– One of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan.

Red Crescent
– The Muslim equivalent of the
Red Cross, an international organization that provides aid to the sick and wounded in
times of disaster and war.

roupee
– Basic unit of money in Pakistan.

shalwar kameez
– Long, loose shirt and trousers, worn by both men
and women. A man’s shalwar kameez is one color, with pockets in the side and on
the chest. A woman’s shalwar kameez has different colors and patterns and is
sometimes elaborately embroidered or beaded.

Taliban
– An Afghan army that took control of the capital city of
Kabul in September, 1996, and was forced from power in the fall of 2001.

toshak
– A narrow mattress used in many Afghan homes instead of
chairs or beds.

UN
– United Nations, an international organization that promotes
peace, security and economic development.

UNHCR
– United Nations High Commission on Refugees.

Uzbek
– The language of the Uzbek people of central Asia.

Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a
bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a
history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a
blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or
write. One day he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the
family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.

As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges.
Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become
the breadwinner.

“. . . a great kid’s book . . . a graphic geopolitical brief that’s also
a girl-power parable.” —
Newsweek

“. . . a book . . . about the hard times — and the courage — of Afghan
children.” —
Washington Post

• Hackmatack Award
• Middle East Book Award
•
Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Award
• Swedish Peter Pan Prize
•
YALSA PPYA

A war is raging in Afghanistan as a coalition of Western forces tries to
oust the Taliban by bombing the country. Parvana’s father has died, and her mother,
sister and brother have gone to a faraway wedding, not knowing what has happened to the
father. Parvana doesn’t know where they are. She just knows she has to find them. She
sets out alone, masquerading as a boy, her journey becoming more perilous as the bombs
begin to fall. Making her way across the desolate Afghan countryside, she meets other
children who are strays from the war. The children travel together because it is easier
than being alone. And, as they forge their own family in the war zone that Afghanistan
has become, their resilience, imagination and luck help them to survive.

“Through spare and affecting prose, Ellis . . . makes the children’s
journey both arduous and believable.” —
Booklist

“This sequel . . . easily stands alone . . . An unforgettable read.” —
School Library Journal
, starred review

• Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award
Honor Book
• Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist
• Ontario
Library Association Golden Oak Award
• Ruth Schwartz Award
• YALSA
BBYA

Parvana’s best friend, Shauzia, has fled Afghanistan and is faced with
surviving on her own on the streets of Peshawar, Pakistan. With her dog as her only
friend, she must scrounge for food, beg for money and look for a safe place to sleep
every night. But could it be worse than a lifetime spent living in a refugee camp? This
is a powerful and very human story of a feisty, driven girl who tries to take control of
her own life.

“. . . bristles with transparent urgency . . . the question of autonomy
in childhood, and the violation of it are addressed face on.” —
Globe and
Mail

“. . . a fine, strong addition to Ellis’ growing list of novels. Highly
recommended.” —
Toronto Star

• Hackmatack Award
• Lamplighter Award
• New
York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

DEBORAH ELLIS
has achieved international acclaim with her
courageous and dramatic books that give Western readers a glimpse into the plight of
children in developing countries. She has won the Governor General’s Award, Sweden’s
Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California’s Middle East
Book Award, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A
long-time feminist and anti-war activist, she is best known for The Breadwinner Trilogy,
which has been published around the world in seventeen languages, with more than a
million dollars donated to
Street Kids
International
and to
Women for
Women
, an organization that supports health and education projects in Afghanistan.
She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

FICTION

Looking For X

The Breadwinner

Parvana’s Journey

Mud City

The Breadwinner Trilogy (Anthology)

A Company Of Fools

The Heaven Shop

I Am A Taxi

Sacred Leaf

Jackal In The Garden: An Encounter

With Bihzad

Jakeman

Bifocal
(Co-Written With Eric Walters)

Lunch With Lenin And Other Stories

No Safe Place

NONFICTION

Three Wishes: Israeli And Palestinian

Children Speak

Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk

About Aids

Off To War: Voices Of Soldiers’ Children

Children Of War: Voices Of Iraqi Refugees

Groundwood Books, established in 1978, is dedicated to the
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