Fore­word: In the fore­word of The Bread­win­ner, Deb­o­rah Ellis delves into the exten­sive his­to­ry of con­flict in Afghanistan, span­ning more than thir­ty-six years since the Sovi­et Union’s inva­sion. This peri­od includes the chaos that fol­lowed the Sovi­et depar­ture, the rise of the Tal­iban, and the dra­mat­ic after­math of the Sep­tem­ber 11 events. Ellis draws atten­tion to the far-reach­ing con­se­quences of these con­flicts, not­ing how deci­sions made by those in posi­tions of safe­ty often lead to cat­a­stroph­ic results for inno­cent peo­ple in Afghanistan. The book empha­sizes the human cost of war, focus­ing on how the peo­ple caught in its path, espe­cial­ly in Afghanistan, suf­fer the most. These indi­vid­u­als, often removed from the deci­sion-mak­ing process­es, are forced to endure hard­ships that stem from glob­al con­flicts far beyond their con­trol.

Ellis high­lights the often-over­looked role of prof­it-dri­ven indi­vid­u­als or orga­ni­za­tions that fuel wars by man­u­fac­tur­ing weapons and encour­ag­ing vio­lence rather than seek­ing peace­ful solu­tions. She cri­tiques the deci­sion-mak­ers who con­tribute to wars with­out under­stand­ing their dev­as­tat­ing effects on the inno­cent, par­tic­u­lar­ly the civil­ians caught in the cross­fire. Through The Bread­win­ner, Ellis paints a pic­ture of the harsh real­i­ties that those liv­ing in war-torn regions expe­ri­ence dai­ly: the destruc­tion of com­mu­ni­ties, the loss of infra­struc­ture, and the ongo­ing strug­gle of refugees who have no access to life’s most basic needs, such as food and shel­ter. These vic­tims of war, forced to live with­out the essen­tials, are fre­quent­ly over­looked or for­got­ten, and their suf­fer­ing is a tes­ta­ment to the dev­as­tat­ing impact of pro­longed con­flict on every­day lives.

In con­trast to the despair that war brings, Ellis also intro­duces the sto­ries of ordi­nary peo­ple who embody resilience and hope. She recounts her encoun­ters with teach­ers, health work­ers, librar­i­ans, and oth­er unsung heroes who con­tin­ue to serve their com­mu­ni­ties despite the over­whelm­ing chal­lenges around them. These indi­vid­u­als, who refuse to be beat­en down by war, work tire­less­ly to nur­ture chil­dren, rebuild com­mu­ni­ties, and main­tain some sem­blance of nor­mal­cy in their lives. Their acts of kind­ness serve as pow­er­ful reminders of the strength of the human spir­it, even when faced with seem­ing­ly insur­mount­able obsta­cles. Through these sto­ries, Ellis under­scores the impor­tance of hope and human­i­ty in the dark­est of times, offer­ing read­ers an inspir­ing coun­ter­point to the grim real­i­ties of war.

Ellis also brings to light the dev­as­tat­ing sta­tis­tic that nine­ty-five per­cent of those killed in wars are civil­ians, urg­ing read­ers to rec­og­nize the human­i­ty of those who bear the brunt of con­flict. The vic­tims of war are not dis­tant strangers, but peo­ple who share many of the same joys and strug­gles as those unaf­fect­ed by vio­lence. This sta­tis­tic serves as a stark reminder that war is not just a series of bat­tles between armies, but an ongo­ing human tragedy that affects the lives of mil­lions of peo­ple, most of whom are inno­cent civil­ians. By high­light­ing the shared human­i­ty between the read­ers and those suf­fer­ing in war zones, Ellis calls for greater empa­thy and a deep­er under­stand­ing of the true costs of con­flict.

In the fore­word, Ellis also empha­sizes the pow­er of books as a means to fos­ter empa­thy and con­nect peo­ple from dif­fer­ent walks of life. By shar­ing sto­ries like Parvana’s, she hopes to bridge cul­tur­al divides and pro­vide a win­dow into the lives of those who are affect­ed by war. Ellis express­es heart­felt grat­i­tude in the fif­teenth-anniver­sary edi­tion of The Bread­win­ner to read­ers, edu­ca­tors, and care­givers who have helped bring the sto­ry of Par­vana and her com­pan­ions to life. Her appre­ci­a­tion extends to the peo­ple of Afghanistan, acknowl­edg­ing their fun­da­men­tal right to peace and a bet­ter life, free from the rav­ages of war. Through this work, Ellis aims not just to tell a sto­ry, but to inspire a call to action—a recog­ni­tion of the glob­al strug­gle for peace and jus­tice.

Deb­o­rah Ellis’ words leave a last­ing impact as she encour­ages read­ers to reflect on the shared human expe­ri­ences that tran­scend the bor­ders of con­flict. In the face of war’s bru­tal­i­ty, she urges read­ers to rec­og­nize that the strength and kind­ness of the human spir­it can nev­er be ful­ly extin­guished. Through empa­thy, we can find com­mon ground with those who endure war, and through under­stand­ing, we can work towards a world that embraces peace.