THE GOOD WOMAN

Blacktown’s Woman Of the Year, Maryam Zahid. Image: Laura Ranola (@lauranola)

As part of Blacktown Arts Festival, Magnify continues! The Western attended The Good Woman, an emotive and raw play written by Maryam Zahid and Robert Colman. The play was very special; it was as if we were invited into a secret hiding place where the most vulnerable stories of the featured Afghan women were stored. The play showed was only on show for two nights only but yet attracted a large crowd. Afghan tea and desserts were complimentary for guests.

Maryam, who took the tile of Blacktown’s Woman Of The Year Award in 2019, bravely shared her journey as an Afghan Refugee. Migrating from Kabul Afghanistan, Maryam worked her way towards having an education. As a young girl, she dreamed of studying, as this would have been forbidden in her war-torn country. Maryam believes that women deserve their basic human rights, deserve to think freely and have a sense of self. She saw that women within her community still struggled to have a sense of freedom and independence. She then desired the need to create a support group called Afghan Women On The Move. At first Maryam started off with a facebook page sharing recipes and words of encouragement, and since then, it has grown from just herself to over 1,500 women.

Maryam and actress Odile Le Clezio. Image: Laura Ranola (@lauranola)

The play evoked deep emotions as Maryam and actress Odile Le Clezio took on different roles to portray the women from their community, sharing their stories of vulnerability and courage. These stories were so hard to swallow. To think that many women within our community still don’t have the freedom most have; the freedom to study, pursue dreams, or to even try things that they like or to even think. They fear to question their surroundings, or even dare to dream this really pulls on your heart strings. Maryam’s faith and belief in God helped her persevere to create a safe and wonderful place for these women.

Regardless of the threats she received, she still remained determined to create a better world for these women. Hearing these stories reminds us to empathise with the people within our community to support one another as we never know who is struggling. Maryam’s story is inspiring and encouraging, the most beautiful part is that she had never given up! All the push backs and the nights when nobody showed up her heart grew hungrier. Her story definitely inspires us to become better people and to do things that encourage others to become better.

The Good Woman was thought-provoking and eye-opening, and will leave you feeling inspired and encouraged to make a difference within the community.