Comic Project
The Adventures of Detective Sanazu
SA = San Diego (USA) NA= Nangarhar (AFG) ZU= Zürich (CH)
Welcome to the exciting world of The Adventures of Detective Sanazu, a unique comic series that intertwines history, culture, and the power of storytelling.
Selai Balkhi and Timothy Stiven 2024 in San Diego
This project is a collaborative effort between secondary school girls in Afghanistan and high school students from the organization Flowers for the Future, based in San Diego, USA. Afghan Women Support, based in Zürich, collaborates with high school students from Nangarhar, Afghanistan. Together, we are fostering a vibrant exchange of ideas, culture, and creativity. This partnership enables students to explore the rich history of Afghanistan while enhancing their storytelling, artistic, and language skills through shared experiences.
Concept Overview:
Our protagonist, Detective Sanazu, is a curious young girl with a passion for uncovering the hidden stories of strong women in Central Asian history. With her ability to travel through time, Sanazu embarks on thrilling adventures, visiting various timelines to learn about influential figures who shaped the region's past.
Comic-Con San Diego 2024:
In our efforts to promote this project, Selai Balkhi, the leader of Afghan Women Support, participated in a panel at Comic-Con San Diego. There, she discussed alongside with the team of Flowers of the Future the importance of empowering young voices through storytelling.
Since 2021, the students from Flowers for the Future, an international student-run organization, have been teaching Afghan girls using 21st-century technology that enables these girls to complete their high school education. An Applied Art and Poetry Course has enlisted the help of students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to program an Afghan-inspired VR art and poetry gallery that allows girls in Afghanistan to safely present their art to a global audience in real time. This VR gallery exemplifies how the global youth of today are impacting a generation of women and girls in the gender apartheid that has become Afghanistan.
