The World Pulse 50: What Storytelling means to me

I'm one of the World Pulse 50 — Grand Prize Storyteller

Since I remember myself, I was someone who always wanted to be an impactful hand in helping people around me, why? The Reason could be the helplessness and disappointment I felt as a girl in my community. I used to write my emotions and daily experiences on a piece of paper, it helped me feel better. I could listen to myself and my feelings, I was unconsciously writing the facts of a girl’s life, the realities, and obstacles a girl would face in a conservative society to live a normal life, but I never knew how impactful those stories could be if a large number of people read them and relate to them.

4 years back, one of my dearest friends introduced World Pulse to me and there are times when I want to sit on my knee and thank her for this act of generosity. Through this act, she introduced me to the world of storytelling, I learnt about the power of words and got connected to so many wonderful women around the globe. I could show a very small part of life to the world pulse member by writing about my lived experiences in Afghanistan, I could write about Afghanistan, my homeland and the problems and crisis going on in this geography. This means a lot to me, these are not simple stories and words that you read but the visual of courage, trust, and emotions. It has changed my life; I have now become a passionate storyteller through the encouragement I received from my sisters in World Pulse.

Till the time that I was writing my story on a piece of paper, it was only my daily routine to reduce my stress but from the time that I am writing my stories on World pulse, I am not only a storyteller but an ambassador who tells you the stories of women and girls in Afghanistan, a land that is in war, in crisis and with millions of children under the threat of death and malnutrition. I am telling the stories of Afghan refugees in Europe who are waiting for their fate… the refugees who have no name but are numbers to the governments. Storytelling has become a part of my life now, it is my identity and I owe this to the encouragers in World Pulse who have been passing support, love and encouragement during the last couple of months I was in Europe.

World Pulse Voices Rising Awards

This story has been posted as part of the World Pulse Voices Rising Awards. I am part of The World Pulse 50 — a curated list of leaders in the World Pulse community who are creating extraordinary impact in the areas of storytelling, digital changemaking, digital empowerment training, and the World Pulse Spirit! Meet the World Pulse 50 here.