My Mother is My Hero

An Essay by Gulchaman

My mother is a great role model for success. Like other Afghan mothers, my mother had a lot of hardships while she lived in Jaghori, in Ghazni province. As she tells the story of her life, she says that there were not any schools for girls and women when she was young. Moreover, people thought it wasn’t proper for girls to attend school. So, she gave up her dreams of an education and concentrated on raising her children.

Later on, my mother attended a literacy center and begin getting an education. She was very interested in reading and writing. My father encouraged her and was proud of her success, but my mother went to classes for a only short time because she didn’t have enough time to devote to them since we were attending school as well and at home there were a lot of responsibilities like housekeeping, washing clothes and dishes. She did all the housework alone so that we were free to study. Last year my mother was able to begin her studies again. She really has succeeded now because she has reached her goals. Now she can read and write a bit.

She had been asked, when she began learning, “What is your goal for studying?”

She responded, “I want to write letter. I want to read. I want to make calls without help from anyone.”

A few weeks ago, I read a letter from my Mom and it was awesome! I really enjoyed reading it. Words from her letter come back to me and now I have a picture of a champion mother of the world in my soul and mind. My mom gives me hope, not only for me and my siblings, but for everyone. She had serious problems with the reins put on her life, but she never surrendered. I was always impressed when I watched her lay down and read her book because she would feel pain when she sat for too long. Mom taught us to have goals in life, and work towards them to have a significant life.

If I were to write my mom’s life story, it could be inspirational because of her hard work. When I observe her opening a book to read, it makes me think big and be strong. When I see her going somewhere and reading the notices, she gives me hope. She has certainly made mistakes in her reading and writing but day by day she is getting better.

My mother is around 50 years old but looks younger and smarter than her age because whenever I go to meet her, I find her with her book and a notebook. I recall the days when I still lived at home, when I would run into her in a hurry in the street, telling me “I am leaving for school and your clothes and lunch are ready. So please change your uniform and have your lunch.” It was always hard for her to fit in time for her own studies.

I really remember those hot nights in summer when she came to our room and turned the fan on. She could not sleep well unless we were comfortable. Even in winter she got up and laid extra blankets on us to keep us warm. Besides taking such good care of us, she continued her pursuit of knowledge which was a sign of her thirst for education and learning new things. I’m so proud of her. I hope that other illiterate women will find the energy for getting an education. My mother is a great role model for success.