A lullaby for you, my daughter

This video highlights the importance of educating girls and celebrating their presence in homes.

Samar Minallah December 17, 2011
Allaho is a traditional lullaby that is culturally addressed to sons. However, with the help of Pashto and Dari poets, we made a lullaby for girls too. "Allaho - a lullaby for  you my daughter" breaks away from being male- oriented as it is directed towards the female child. 

This video was made when girls schools were being targeted in the different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Afghanistan. The aim behind it was to challenge the mindset that girls should not be allowed to get an education. In shooting this video, I wanted to highlight the positive role that fathers and teachers play in the empowerment of girls. In order to promote positive images, I visited many schools of KP and Afghanistan.

This song is being used for awareness-raising purposes by local organizations in the rural areas, schools, and forums in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has been aired on Pashto television channels and continues to be used for the advocacy at different forums. The message of the poetry, written by Watan Dost, is to celebrate the presence of a girl in the home as a blessing. It goes further to encourage the baby girl to dream big dreams and emphasizes the importance of education to realize those dreams.

This video has been shot and conceptualised by Samar Minallah and the song has been sung by renowned singer Naghma. The video has has been filmed in Kabul, Bagram, Khyber, and Swat by Samar and it was produced by the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) and Heinrich Boll Foundation Afghanistan.
WRITTEN BY:
Samar Minallah A graduate of the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Anthropology, Samar's interests lie in civil and human rights which she translates to film.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (13)

samar minallah | 12 years ago | Reply Thank you all for your feedback and comments :)
Umer Afridi | 12 years ago | Reply Samar! You are doing a great service to humanity by highlighting women and children issues. May Allah bless you for your good work.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ