I Am a Bacha Posh
My Life as a Woman Living as a Man in Afghanistan
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Narrated by:
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Ariana Delawari
About this listen
"You will be a son, my daughter." With these stunning words Ukmina learned that she was to spend her childhood as a boy. In Afghanistan there is a widespread practice of girls dressing as boys to play the role of a son. These children are called bacha posh: literally "girls dressed as boys." This practice offers families the freedom to allow their child to shop and work - and in some cases, it saves them from the disgrace of not having a male heir. But in adolescence, religion restores the natural law. The girls must marry, give birth, and give up their freedom.
Ukmina decided to confront social and family pressure and keep her menswear. This brave choice paved the way for an extraordinary destiny: She wages war against the Soviets, assists the mujaheddin and ultimately commands the respect of all whom she encounters. She eventually becomes one of the elected council members of her province. But freedom always has a price. For "Ukmina warrior" that price was her life as a woman.
This is a stunning and brave memoir about a little known practice that will challenge your perceptions about gender and the courage it takes to live your life to the fullest.
©2014 Ukmina Manoori and Stephanie Lebrun Translation 2014 by Peter E. Chianchiano (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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For three months in the spring of 1994, the African nation of Rwanda descended into one of the most vicious and bloody genocides the world has ever seen. Immaculée Ilibagiza, a young university student, miraculously survived the savage killing spree that left most of her family, friends, and a million of her fellow citizens dead. Immaculée's remarkable story of survival was documented in her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.
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Interesting perspective
- By RayChu on 03-13-13
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Wild Swans
- Three Daughters of China
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrated by: Joy Osmanski
- Length: 22 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular best seller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.
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Accurate, moving and chilling
- By David on 12-15-12
By: Jung Chang
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Stolen Girls
- Survivors of Boko Haram Tell Their Story
- By: Wolfgang Bauer, Eric Frederick Trump - translator
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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One night in April 2014, members of the terrorist organization Boko Haram raided the small town of Chibok in northeast Nigeria and abducted 276 young girls from the local boarding school. The event caused massive, international outrage. Using the hashtag "Bring Back Our Girls", politicians, activists, and celebrities from all around the world - among them First Lady Michelle Obama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai - protested.
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Perspective changer
- By frostyski3 on 05-13-17
By: Wolfgang Bauer, and others
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A Moonless, Starless Sky
- Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa
- By: Alexis Okeowo
- Narrated by: Kamali Minter
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In A Moonless, Starless Sky Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powerful tapestry of modern Africa: a young couple, kidnap victims of Joseph Kony's LRA; a Mauritanian waging a lonely campaign against modern-day slavery; a women's basketball team flourishing amid war-torn Somalia; and a vigilante who takes up arms against the extremist group Boko Haram.
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Amazing and Inspirational Stories
- By F L. on 01-01-18
By: Alexis Okeowo
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Tears of the Desert
- A Memoir of Survival in Darfur
- By: Halima Bashir, Damien Lewis
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Halima Bashir was born into the Zaghawa tribe, whose customs have remained unchanged for centuries, in the remote western deserts of Sudan in the region of South Darfur. Halima's father named his daughter after the traditional medicine woman of the village, and she grew up in a happy and close-knit childhood environment. Her father became a wealthy man by his tribe's standards, so he could afford to send Halima to school and university. Halima went on to study medicine, and at 24 she returned to her tribe and began practicing as their first ever qualified doctor.
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A story that takes you there
- By Justicepirate on 05-22-17
By: Halima Bashir, and others
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The Aquariums of Pyongyang
- By: Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Amid escalating nuclear tensions, Kim Jong-un and North Korea's other leaders have kept a tight grasp on their one-party state, quashing any nascent opposition movements and sending all suspected dissidents to its brutal concentration camps for "re-education". Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of one of these camps to escape and tell his story to the world, documenting the extreme conditions in these gulags and providing a personal insight into life in North Korea.
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Riveting!!
- By Iread on 11-12-20
By: Chol-hwan Kang, and others
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Dreams in a Time of War
- A Childhood Memoir
- By: Ngugi wa'Thiong'o
- Narrated by: Hakeem Kae-Kazim
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Of Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Ngugi wa Thiongo was born in 1938 in the backlands of his country (Kiambu district) to a father whose four wives bore him two dozen or so children. Ngugi was the fifth child of the third wife. His father was a peasant farmer forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Before going off to school, he had what was then considered a bizarre and inexplicable thirst for learning....
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An escape through education
- By Tango on 06-17-12
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The Home That Was Our Country
- By: Alia Malek
- Narrated by: Alia Malek
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parents' decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians—the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds—who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country
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Syria as never read before
- By rami hachwi on 09-17-18
By: Alia Malek
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The Translator
- By: Daoud Hari
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The young life of Daoud Hari—his friends call him David—has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur. The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving memoir of how one person has made a difference in the world—an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time.
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Horrific
- By B.S.Johnston on 04-02-24
By: Daoud Hari
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After the Roundup
- Escape and Survival in Hitler’s France
- By: Joseph Weismann
- Narrated by: J. Clark Allison
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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On the nights of July 16 and 17, 1942, French police rounded up 11-year-old Joseph Weismann, his family, and 13,000 other Jews. After being held for five days in appalling conditions in the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium, Joseph and his family were transported by cattle car to the Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp and brutally separated. A thousand children were left behind to wait for a later train. The French guards told the children that they would soon be reunited with their parents, but Joseph and his new friend, Joe Kogan, chose to risk everything in a daring escape attempt.
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A “must-listen” book
- By Jonathan R Scupin on 09-25-18
By: Joseph Weismann
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Keeping Hope Alive
- One Woman: 90,000 Lives Changed
- By: Hawa Abdi, Sarah J. Robbins
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Hawa Abdi, "the Mother Teresa of Somalia" and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is the founder of a massive camp for internally displaced people located a few miles from war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia. Since 1991, when the Somali government collapsed, famine struck, and aid groups fled, she has dedicated herself to providing help for people whose lives have been shattered by violence and poverty.
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How Refreshing
- By Jean Watz on 07-21-14
By: Hawa Abdi, and others
What listeners say about I Am a Bacha Posh
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dani Smith
- 05-16-15
Great story about a brave woman
This is a very interesting story about both the attacks Afghani people have endured, and the struggle that women in Afghanistan face daily of violence, submission, and being considered without value in the culture of Islam. Ukmina does not turn away from her religion, but she does put her relationship with Allah before her relationship with religious leaders. She champions women's rights, while honoring her culture and religion. This is an impressive story of her life straddling the gender boundaries in a conservative culture.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-21-23
Fascinating story!
This was fascinating to me. I learned so much about Afghan history and culture. I had no idea this existed.
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- Kevin Lowey
- 09-18-22
Incredible book!
What an inspiration for us all!!! Thank you for your courage! You are such a blessing…
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- Zack
- 09-13-23
ok so .....
I did enjoy this book the story is very good although some what hard to follow unless your familiar with Afghanistan topography ( I am . I served there in 2008 ) and remembered people talking about this woman . not super thrilled about her rendition of how she feels about American soldiers.mostly because I was one in Afghanistan. but I won't let allow my self to be so self centered and high on the horse to believe they all loved us intact I know by the time I got there most of them hated us . besides that a good story about a woman who did the best she could in a horrible situation and a role model for her community.
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- troy l miller
- 11-12-23
Interesting
This is a very interesting story. I cannot say that is riding. It is a motion into a world that is not covered.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-19-21
Good story, awful pronunciation
Good story, learned a lot about a Bacha Posh. They could've picked a better narrator. Narrator says words with As in exaggerated tone like Pakistawhn, Afghanistawhn and always seem to have the accent on the last syllable of a name which robs authenticity to the story. Even apricot is mispronounced as ape-pricot. I hope they find a more suitable narrator and redo the reading to give this book the justice it well deserves.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Tracy F.
- 05-05-21
Interesting subject but..
It seemed the story was randomly told. It should have been I told in more order and not jump around. It’s a very interesting subject that I knew nothing about. And after listening to this version of it I don’t know much more. I’m sorry to say.
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- retro Betty
- 01-14-21
Excellent and riveting story
This was an excellent look into the culture of women in Afghanistan and tail of accounts that those of us in the western world do not often hear/see. Eye opening, thoughtfully written and well read.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-18-19
Great and deep cultural read
Very good book that explores the cultural intimatices of traditional Afghani culture/life as a bacha-posh
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- CdB
- 05-21-22
Informative and entertaining
This is the autobiography of a woman from birth to the "old age" of 40. From birth she is designated "a boy" to help her family while they have no boys of the appropriate age. But when she is of age to change her clothes and actions to be that of a woman in her society, she refuses. She gains respect from her actions over time. She is no friend of the Taliban.
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