Zarghuna Kargar

She was born in the Afghan capital, Kabul, 24 years ago and has previously made childrens' programmes for the Trust's Reach project in Afghanistan

How did you get involved in the Afghan Woman's Hour project?

I was a news and current affairs producer for the BBC World Service's Pasto service when the Trust started the project.

My boss put me forward to be the presenter – it was as simple as that – I loved it immediately; so here I am.

After a year on the air do you have a particular show that sticks in your mind?

That's difficult. All the programmes that I've done I have found interesting because we are dealing with real lives of Afghan women. They are all interesting and I love them all.

But if I have to choose I would say the programme I did about a woman who, as a child, was given to another family to settle a dispute.

In Pashto, we say she has been given in "baad"

The woman is old now and lives in a very remote area of Afghanistan. She told her story to my colleagues who visited her village.

Her voice and her story are imprinted on my memory because it was such a powerful story.

You also confront taboos and cover difficult topics like violence against women – are they emotional programmes to make?

Very emotional. When I first started doing Afghan Women's Hour I cried at nearly every story I heard… because some of the subject matter was so shocking and sad.

For instance, I'd get stories from 13 year old girls who'd been raped by a warlord or by someone in the village – and these young girls don't get any help or support after their ordeal.

And stories of women beaten up by their husbands, who don't have the right to speak, don't have the right to eat before the men in the house and often go hungry.

It's very sad but I have got more used to it now and I cry a little less.

There must be some "feel-good" items too?

Of course. I get real satisfaction when we get experts on the programme who can offer really sound advice to help these women.

Then we get feedback from women who say that the programme has really helped them in their lives. It makes me so happy.

What sort of feedback have you had?

One boy wrote to the programme on behalf of his Granny – he said, "My Granny asked me to write to your programme to tell you that she loves the women's stories because they are just like her life and she really enjoys hearing them."

How do you decide on what goes into the show?

From the beginning our target was to reach the women in remote areas because they are the women in the most need of help.

Women in cities have some degree of freedom, they can go out, they can work, but in the villages – as I said – they sometimes don't have the right to eat before the men.

The editor of the programme is Rachel Ellison and before we went on air she went on a research trip to Afghanistan.

With all the information that she gathered we sat down and decided together what to do with the programme; we decided the language should be simple for the audiences, we would do simple things and cover things that touch their lives and give them advice to help them in their lives.

What are you doing in the programme for the first anniversary?

We are doing a programme about women and storytelling.

Winters are very cold in Afghanistan and there is a lot of snow. In the villages people live in small huts and they just have a tiny heater.

To keep warm in the evenings the women and the children all get under a huge duvet - which we call a sandaly - and the older women of the household tell stories to the children as they huddle together to keep warm.

These women are uneducated but they are respected in the family. They have a role teaching the children the values of the society and the family which they weave into the stories that they create and tell to the children as they stay warm under the sandaly.

So our reporter went to a very cold, snowy and remote area of Afghanistan where she found this scene and recorded an evening of story-telling. It's a very special show.

Are you having a team celebration?

Oh yes!

In Kabul, we are having a big celebration and inviting people who have appeared as guests on the show giving advice.

It is a big thank you too because they don't get paid to come on the show, they come on because they really care about their country, they care about the people and they care about the women and really want to help the women of Afghanistan.

I wish I could be in Kabul for it!