MacLean’s ran the story a few months ago. I had never heard of Mozhdah Jamalzadah but now I can’t forget her. She is the only female host of an Afghan TV show. And she’s Canadian.
Mozhdah, who like Beyoncé is known by her first name, and is mobbed whenever she leaves her Kabul home, has been labelled the Oprah of Afghanistan. The comparison is of course imperfect. Oprah doesn’t sleep with a gun. She doesn’t ride in bulletproof cars or travel with guards armed with AK-47s. Death threats don’t flood her inbox. Mozhdah, whose first thought on entering a new building is how she might escape, is gutsy in a way Oprah doesn’t need to be. Her black leather leggings, six-inch heels and silver hoop earrings wouldn’t get a second glance in Vancouver, where she’s spent all but five of her 26 years, but this is Afghanistan. Until a few years ago, the bare ankles alone could have earned her a public whipping.
Todd Babiak interviewed Mozhdah in Edmonton on April 15th. She was in town prior to speaking at an event in Lacombe sponsored by the humanitarian organization, “A Better World.” She said, “I am exporting Canadian values, the values I grew up with. I kept wondering what the girls of Afghanistan could accomplish if they had grown up with the freedoms I had.”
I thought about Canadian freedom. The freedoms I have. The freedoms we all have. Mozhdah has seized her opportunity. What is God calling you to do?
The Oprah of Afghanistan
