12 Aug 2010

Afghan woman awaits reconstructive surgery

From Checkpoint, 6:12 pm on 12 August 2010

An 18 year old Afghan woman whose mutilated face has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine is now in the United States awaiting surgery to reconstruct her nose and ears amputated by the Taliban. Bibi Aisha was just 12 years old when she and her sister were given to a Taliban fighter as a peace offering after their uncle killed one of the man's relatives. Esther Hyneman is on the board of Women For Afghan Women - a New York organisation which has been working in Afghanistan since 2001, which runs the shelter where Bibi stayed.