Check out this fascinating blog, Tang Dunand, by a female AP reporter living in Afghanistan. With all the important developments there this week--ridiculous, misogynist law, courageous protests--it's nice to read the perspective of someone on the ground and see more varied photographs of women there in their own space. After taking a little friend to the emergency room she writes:

I worry that she lost too much blood. I worry that in a country like Afghanistan, the operation will go awry. I worry that she will not heal well in this war-torn, impoverished country and will be handicapped forever.

I only knew Basmina from our brief encounters, but today I felt so intricately linked to her. In the longed-for before, I saw a bright and happy young girl with the possibility, no matter how dim, of a decent future. Later, as I tried to keep up her spirits in the hospital, her tiny little frame on the hospital gurney, I grieved deeply. Basmina was the drop that made me overflow.

As these events tossed about my head all day, I learned that Basmina means "fragrance." I don't have any pictures of her. I took for granted that her freckles and smile would be there to greet me tomorrow.

Thanks to J. Courtney Sullivan for the heads up.