The Search for the Girl with Green Eyes

​The Search for the Girl with Green Eyes

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​The suffering of a million displaced, homeless refugees was mirrored in a single pair of startling green eyes. The cries of countless voiceless children robbed of their childhood screamed out of her silent gaze. Yet, the face young and unlined, belied the sorrow in her soul. The Afghan refugee shyly pulled her shawl over her hair and stared in the camera lens.

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​The story began when one day in 1984 when a journalist Steve McCurry was wandering through the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Pakistan – Afghan border. As he was going through the tent flap of a makeshift classroom, he saw a girl of about 12 years old. He was mesmerized by her eyes. Something struck a chord in Steve. In her eyes he saw the indomitable human spirit that, despite all the obstacles that crossed one’s path, remained defiant and unbroken.

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​And the rest of the world that looked into her eyes got a glimpse of the tragic world of a refugee. ‌In 1985, her face was on the June cover of the National Geographic magazine. This picture was reproduced in magazines and posters all over the world. She became the emblem of suffering refugees all over the world. She inspired many to volunteer for relief work. Who was that girl? ‌

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​The story began when one day in 1984 when a journalist Steve McCurry was wandering through the Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the Pakistan – Afghan border. As he was going through the tent flap of a makeshift classroom, he saw a girl of about 12 years old. He was mesmerized by her eyes. Something struck a chord in Steve. In her eyes he saw the indomitable human spirit that, despite all the obstacles that crossed one’s path, remained defiant and unbroken.

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​From her teacher, the journalist learnt that the girl had lost both her parents in a Soviet attack on her village when she was six. She had trekked through torturous mountain terrain with her grandmother, two sisters and a brother into Pakistan. ‌The September 11 attacks in United States of America in 2001 made Steve McCurry and his team go back to Afghanistan in search of the girl with the green eyes. His motive was simple. He had always been proud to be associated with her picture.

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​He thought it would be wonderful if he could find her and do something for her. After much searching, the breakthrough came at the original refugee camp where he had first set eyes on her. A man who claimed to have been the girl’s neighbour said she now lived near Tora Bora. He took Steve to meet her. ‌

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​The team was introduced to a 29-year-old woman named Sharbat Gula. She was wearing a burqa. She was cradling a beautiful baby girl, the youngest of her three daughters. Her face was etched with hardship, but she was still a beautiful woman. She even remembered the day Steve photographed her in a refugee camp 17 years ago. And…she still had those amazing sea-green eyes!

Multiple Choice

1) Steve McCurry had always lost touch with the girl he had photographed.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

2) He knew the identity of the girl.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

3) Steve McCurry easily found the girl he had photographed in 2001.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

4) The girl had had a very hard life.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

5) The girl was originally from Pakistan-Afghanistan.

• True

• False

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Bravo!

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