"The mystery began over 17 years ago... ..in Nasir Bagh refugee camp, Pakistan." "There hasn't been a week that's gone by that I haven't had an inquiry about her whereabouts." "In 1 984, photographer Steve McCurry took a photograph of a young girl with an unforgettable fire in her eyes." "It was a meeting that would create one of the most arresting portraits in our world." "But hers was a face without a name." "tell me about that picture - how you got it, who is she?" "With the help of cutting-edge technology," "Steve has one last chance to find the person behind the face that has haunted him for years." "But is it too late?" "They're going to destroy this camp and make a housing project." "Did she even survive?" "Against all odds, Steve's on a journey back to the gateway of Afghanistan to solve one of the most challenging missing person cases of our time." "Ask this man if he's ever seen this girl." "The search for the Afghan girl." "September 1 1, 2001, the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil." "Among the journalists covering the tragedy that day was photographer Steve McCurry." "After decades of covering wars in distant corners of the world, the most tragic event in his life was unfolding just a few blocks from his own home." "Many experienced that terrible day in New York." "But few shared Steve's intimate knowledge of a country that was suddenly on the minds of many" " Afghanistan." "With 23 years of experience in that war-torn country, he's produced photographs that reveal the suffering of its people." "None of his photos have touched the world more than the timeless image of a young Afghan refugee girl with striking eyes... eyes that reflect the anguish of refugees worldwide." "In light of recent world events, renewed interest has emerged about the girl in the photograph anonymously titled, "the Afghan girl"." "Joining us now from Bangkok, thailand, is Steve McCurry, the photographer for national Geographic, who took those award-winning photos of Afghan children, including the one that's on the cover of national Geographic that's considered one of the most famous pictures ever taken." "tell me about that picture - how you got it, who is she?" "STEVE:" "I was walking through an Afghan refugee village one day." "I was doing a story on the Afghan-Pakistan border." "And I passed this tent, large tent, which was being used as an elementary school, and asked their teacher about this one particular student with these kind of amazing eyes." "She said she had had to walk with her family for two weeks through the mountains because her village had been bombed by helicopter gunships." "several people in her family had been killed." "And they'd made this two-week trek - this was the middle of winter - through the snow, to get to this refugee camp." "So it was clear that she had been kind of deeply traumatised by being displaced and family members killed and whatnot." "Why did that photograph impact you so?" "I don't think a day has gone by, in the Iast 1 6 years since I took that picture, that I haven't gotten a letter or a phone call or an email asking for information." "There are certain photographs which have struck a chord in people." "I was very happy that several people told me that they had actually volunteered to go work in Pakistan refugee camps based on that picture." "Steve wants to share with her the hope she's inspired in others." "He wants to discover the story behind those eyes." "What's happened to her?" "is she still alive?" "But time is running out." "Any hope of finding the Afghan girl is fading." "The refugee camp where he last saw her 1 7 years ago is being demolished." "And war is raging in her homeland." "He's looked for her before." "But for the first time, he'll have access to a team of experts." "A forensic specialist with the fbi will examine facial characteristics." "Iridian Technologies will scan irises in hopes of finding a match for those amazing eyes." "COMPUTER:" "Identification is completed." "It actually has more information than a fingerprint." "At the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," "Steve's original image will be aged." "Retired detective and forensic imaging specialist Glenn Miller will make the Afghan girl into an Afghan woman." "It is a combination of a Iot of artwork and some science." "But science will only be helpful if Steve is able to find some strong leads." "It's kind of like trying to find a needle in a field of haystacks." "Steve braces for a trip that will take him to the other side of the globe." "6,843 miles and two days later, he sets foot in Peshawar, Pakistan." "Peshawar is a city with a constant flow of refugees from Afghanistan pouring across its border, fleeing a war that has lasted 23 years" "and has resulted in 1.5 million dead and 3.5 million refugees." "Given its proximity to the Khyber Pass, which carves its way through the border that separates Afghanistan and Pakistan," "Peshawar has seen a host of invaders, countless traders and travellers." "Today, Peshawar is a mix of the old and the new." "It is a carpet that spans from the 2nd century to the 21 st century." "It's actually 31 hours since I Ieft New York." "I haven't been here for four years." "But it looks virtually the same," "I don't think much has changed since when I first got here 22 years ago." "still got these buses that are all decked out." "Steve begins his search immediately, no time for sleep." "The odds are not good.." "one woman, today, possibly covered by a burka, lost among millions... ..maybe still a refugee, maybe back in Afghanistan..." "..maybe no longer alive." "To increase the odds of finding her," "Steve has enlisted one of the most resourceful journalists in Pakistan." "Rahimullah Yousafzai, editor of a prominent Pakistani newspaper and a writer for Time magazine, is the lead detective on the case." "He has all the connections." "He is one of only a fewjournalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden." "..will be able to go to the camp." "He has a stake in solving the mystery as well." "Rahimullah has chronicled the plight of Afghan refugees during the last 25 years." "There are so many Afghan refugees, so many girls." "But this one image... has lasted." "It portrayed the suffering and the fear of the Afghan people." "And I think this photograph also was instrumental in portraying that suffering and in motivating a Iot of people to help the Afghan refugees." "Rahimullah and Steve set out with only the photograph and one lead." "Steve remembers the teacher who was in the tent school that day in 1 984." "She was the victim of a land mine and had lost her leg." "He believes if they find the teacher, she might know what happened to the girl." "Their best hope is to start at a district office where Afghan refugees register for food, shelter, and aid." "STEVE:" "This is a group of Afghan men." "They are fresh arrivals from Afghanistan." "We're near the camp of Kacha Garhi, just on the outside of Peshawar." "The amazing thing is that these Afghans keep coming after nearly 20 years." "They're actually waiting to be interviewed by the camp officials so they can get placed in a camp." "It's just incredible." "I mean, this scene could have been easily 1 5 years ago." "And looking at their faces, I'm reminded of that young Afghan refugee girl." "I took her photograph from the camp." "Her story could be the same as any one of these women sitting here." "So we had good information from her..." "Officials in the office seemed to recall a teacher who meets the description, and they promise to follow up." "After 1 7 years, Steve is on his way back to Nasir Bagh refugee camp, where he first met the Afghan girl." "What was once a temporary solution has become a permanent home for some 1 00,000 Afghan refugees." "Tents have gradually been replaced with more permanent mud homes." "While life isn't easy, there seems to be a stability and sense of community that offers comfort." "Now that stability is being threatened." "The camp is scheduled to be demolished for a housing project any day, and with it, any clues to finding the Afghan girl will vanish as well." "Steve is investigating all possibilities." "RAHIMULLAH:" "He has seen this photograph for the first time and has never seen this girl." " Here's my wife." " Yeah?" "You're sure?" "(Laughter)" "How much is one photo?" "Reversing roles, Steve finds himself on the other side of the camera." "Oh, that's great." "Look at this." "Yeah, that's great." "We have an appointment with the elders." "I hope that they can give me some information about maybe where she is living now." "Elders are tribal leaders who serve as the patriarchs of an extended family." "They know the comings and goings of all the people in their community." "RAHIMULLAH:" "Haji Farouq says, "For the Iast three days, I have been looking for this girl."" "He's one of the elders in the camp, FadeI Mohammed, and he's going to help us." "Let us give him this." "While investigating, Steve cannot resist the temptation of looking through his lens." "He's found a young girl with striking eyes, who reminds him of the anonymous girl from his past." "I Iike just to discover things around me." "I Iike to look for people who I think have an interesting story to tell on their face." "I want to just try and understand who they really are." "So I'II often take them off the road or off the sidewalk into a shaded place so that I can really look into their eyes." "I want their eyes to be open and relaxed." "In fact, I want their face to be relaxed, and I want them to be at ease and I want the story... their story to be revealed in their face." "It was a fleeting moment just like this that created the timeless image of the Afghan girl." "Steve has been working in Pakistan for 24 years." "With each visit, he always finds time to catch up with his old friend, Salam." "You were probably wondering where I was." "Were you wondering where I was this whole time? "He forgot me."" "In fact, I wanted to call you, but I saw you on national Geographic." "When was that?" " That was a good four, five months back." " No kidding?" "In Singapore you were, or you were in some place like there." "You mean, it was in the magazine?" "No, it was on the television." "You were alive!" "And I was telling my kids, my son, in fact, you know, "That is Steve, I know him."" "The other day I was talking to some Germans, everybody is taking their photograph." " Which photograph is that?" " The cover of the national Geographic." " And people are mad about it." " Is that right?" "In fact, I'm back here on this trip looking for her." "Back at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," "Glenn Miller is ageing Steve's original photograph." "What I'm doing here, I'm experimenting with lowering the eyelids, slightly, to give it a more mature look, in my opinion, with shadowing, here with some darkness under the eyes." "Here I'm adding weathering to the skin as a result of damage from the sun." "Glenn changes the original lips to what they might look like today." "What I'm doing now is morphing from the original picture into my final progressed image." "Back in Peshawar, Steve receives good news." "The teacher has been found." "This is really an exciting moment because, finally, after 1 6 years," "I'm going to be able to find out what happened to that young girl." "Perhaps she's back in Afghanistan, maybe she's married, maybe she has a family." "I can't wait to find out what her fate was." "salaam alaikum." "How are you?" "Oh, thank you." "After 1 7 years, Steve is standing face to face with the teacher who allowed him in the tent school that day." "..wandering through Nasir Bagh camp, and there was a tent, and I remember you being the teacher." "And I was thinking the best chance to locate this young refugee girl would be to find you." "I wanted to show you the picture of this girl and see if you can remember her face." "She's willing to help, but she must have seen thousands of faces through the years." " Does she remember this girl?" " Yes." "She does?" "OK." "The teacher is offering to take us to the school." "The school is still there." "She recognises the girl's face but has no idea where to find her." "I asked her if they would be having a record of that period, and she says it's possible." " Maybe she will show us the records." " OK." "Together, they return to the very spot where they both met the Afghan girl." "This is the same school where I photographed that young refugee girl in 1 984." "It was a tent at that time, and now it's a proper school with classrooms and blackboards." "We're going to look and see if we can find the records, see if we can find her whereabouts." "Steve enters a secret world... ..a rare look into innocent faces." "Each has the desire to improve her young life, to lessen the odds of an uncertain future." "Yet half these girls will not complete their education." "Some will not survive to become women." "But despite their desperate circumstances, they have hope." "And for Afghan refugees, education promises a better life." "..G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q," "R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z." "Who are these people?" "From inside a classroom, a clue emerges." "That girl says, "I know her."" "This girl was at the same school, she says." "This girl was at the same school, but she was very small at that time." "She says, "I know the family."" "The girl and the teacher agree to help Steve find the family." "Rumour has it the girl has moved away, but a relative is still in the area." "In Nasir Bagh camp, there are few phones or addresses." "It's such a maze that only the people who live here know their way around." "The girl takes the teacher from house to house, searching for any information that may help them find a family member." "Eventually, they discover it's the mother who lives nearby." "As she approaches, she is suspicious of the large group of people searching for her." "But when she's shown the picture, she recognises the girl in the photo." "This woman we met in the camp is saying the girl in the picture is her daughter." "We've gotten four different names today and four different leads, but I think this is the best one." "Her daughter's name, she's saying, is AIam Bibi." "It means "girl of the world"." "It couldn't be a more perfect name for this girl, who has represented the plight of the Afghan people for the past 20 years." "RAHIMULLAH:" "I asked him, "Who is she?" And he says, "It's my mother."" "STEVE:" "Oh, wow." "That's amazing." "I give it to him to show it to his mother." "So soon we'II find out if she's the same girl." "There's about a square inch crack in the door." "And I actually saw her through the door." "If that's not her..." "then it wouId be some kind of a miracle, because through the door I saw...her." "The teacher says I have now met her, and she remembers me." "She told me that, "You were my teacher."" "Right." "One problem.. her husband is at work." "And without his permission, no man may see her unless he's family." "Oh, this is unbelievable." "We have to wait until tomorrow, huh?" "Oh, jeez!" "I know that you want to do it today, just now." "And it's so near, and yet so far." " But, unfortunately, you're not allowed." " Yeah." "Right." "There are cultural constraints." "OK, well, Iet's uh..." "You know, we have to work through the system." "absolutely." "We don't want to spoil..." "OK, Iet's be back here sharp at nine o'cIock." "I'm very hopeful now." " Steve, don't be impatient." " OK." "Wait for just one more night, after having waited for 1 7 years." "(Steve chuckles)" "Tomorrow morning, God willing, your wish will come true." "(Muezzin calls to prayer)" "After all these years, Steve must wait till tomorrow to see Alam Bibi, perhaps the woman behind those eyes." "To ease his mind, he takes a late-night walk through the old city." "salaam alaikum." "I always love to get a shave when I come to Peshawar." "After the shave, they'II give you a wonderful head massage." "So he's been shaving since he was, what, 1 1 ?" "Oh, my God." "Oh, I think I'II pass on that." "Thank you." "Good job." "Thank you." "See you next time." "Despite the head massage, Steve is still anxious." "He cannot escape the image of the Afghan girl." "Can you give me a special price on that?" "OK, 1 5 more for your discount." "Do you know why I want you to give me a special price?" "This one..." "This one is the local price." "But I'm the one who photographed her." " I'm the photographer." "See the name here?" " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Steve McCurry." "It is for you, 80 rupees." "80 rupees?" "(Laughs)" "You're going to give me 20 rupees discount?" "Oh, that's very kind of you, very generous." "It's the end of a long day." "Tomorrow, he hopes to be one step closer to finding the Afghan girl." "I didn't get much sleep last night because the anticipation is a bit much, but I'm hoping that all goes well." "The following morning, Steve sets out early." "He's waited over 1 7 years for this moment." "During the night, Rahimullah received word that Alam Bibi's husband has granted Steve permission to meet her." " So he's the husband of the lady." " OK, great." "Just tell him we're very happy to meet them and happy that they allow us to come into their home and meet the family." "I think we can just sit there and wait for her." "OK, great." "well, this is the moment of truth." "(chuckles) Yes." "salaam alaikum." "(CockereI crows)" "tell her it's very wonderful to meet her again after so many years." "I'm just trying to see some identifying marks." "I'm just wondering about the eyes." "I wonder if her eyes have changed." "The eyes in the picture are green." "RAHIMULLAH:" "She says, "I have grown older, and also because of the suffering, maybe."" "Eye colour can change in rare circumstances." "The line under the lip, on the lower lip seems very similar to the picture and to her face." "It's just a little bit of an indentation, which is interesting." "I don't know, that seems very unusual." "The amazing thing is that we have this photograph three feet from her face, and the resemblance is so strong, that if this is not her, it'd have to be her twin." "It's just amazing that you can be this close, and not be 1 00 per cent sure." "Alam Bibi grew up in Nasir Bagh refugee camp." "Today, she lives with her husband and three children in a village just three miles away." "Her fourth child is due any day." "She shares a similar story with the girl Steve remembers - violence and loss in her early years, and a struggle for sustenance in later years." "She also shares a striking resemblance to the Afghan girl." "STEVE:" "The life of this family is just beyond comprehension." "She can't afford the 25 cents it wouId cost to send her children to school." "I think she, in a way, symbolises the plight, the anguish, the suffering of these many millions of people who have had to flee their country in this 20-year war." "But is Alam Bibi the Afghan girl?" "At lridian Technologies, Jim Cambier and Ulf Cahn von Seelen use their system on photos of Alam Bibi's eyes." "Usually lridian's equipment scans real eyes with infrared light." "But photographs are different and accuracy will depend on the quality of the images." "The rest is actually quite nice." "Nice texture, yeah?" "The system pays no attention to colour." "It only deals with iris tissue structure." "Images of Alam Bibi's eyes are loaded into the computer." "A 1 7-year-old mystery has come down to this moment." "This is the iris that we expected." "And the iris code you see has large gaps here." "Compared to the Ieft eye of the original woman, the mismatch is 45 per cent." "So, only 55 per cent matched and, again, that's a clear mismatch." "That's the same degree of mismatch which we would normally expect to see between my eyes and yours." "(Toots horn)" "So Alam Bibi is not the Afghan girl." "Disappointed, Steve revisits the elders at Nasir Bagh to see if they have any new leads." "Haji Farouq has been showing the picture around the camp and two men have come forward to say they know the girl." "Their tents were next to her family's in an orphan camp at Nasir Bagh." "They say she's living in Afghanistan, near Tora Bora, and they offer to go in to try to find her." "They set off towards Tora Bora." "The mission is not without risk." "(explosion)" "War still rages in the area." "This region was recently one of Osama bin Laden's strongholds." "It could take weeks for them to return." "Nothing is certain." "Steve's time is running out." "We have a Iot of leads still coming in, but I'm going to have to leave today." "We've been through the camp, exhaustively looking and talking to as many people as possible." "We've given it really our best shot." "RahimuIIah, who's been working with me, a highly respected journalist here, is going to be continuing to follow up on these leads." "On Steve's final day, he visits the Nasir Bagh cemetery." "He remembers a rumour that the Afghan girl died in childbirth at the age of 1 3." "It is a sea of unmarked graves - a testament to the millions of displaced lives that never made it home." "50 miles inside of Afghanistan," "Safiulla, one of the men who went searching for the Afghan girl, reaches a remote village near Tora Bora." "He finds his friend working in a field." "When the man sees the photograph, he recognises the girl in the picture." "He says it's his sister." "Rahimullah receives a phone call from the men." "They say they've found the Afghan girl and they're bringing her to Peshawar." "National Geographic arranges for correspondent Boyd Matson to race to Peshawar and follow up on what might be a promising lead." "Boyd arrives at the elder's house." "The two men have returned." "In this culture, Boyd must first meet with the men." "The woman they say is the Afghan girl is resting inside the house." "So, you're the brother of the girl?" "And you have very similar eyes to your sister?" "Same colour." "RAHIMULLAH:" "Yes, I agree." "Her name is Sharbat guia." "And Sharbat means a sweet drink." "So it wouId be good if we could...see his sister, or at Ieast have someone go and take a look, perhaps someone get a picture that we could look at." "He says the woman can go and have a look, and then we will see." "And is it OK if she takes a picture with the video camera?" "It is agreed that Carrie Regan, the associate producer on the team, can go in and photograph the woman." "She's allowed to enter a world where few men can follow." "Suddenly, the weight of the search is on her shoulders." "Does the Afghan girl lie behind this door?" "He is the husband." " Yes, and his name is...?" " Rahmat gui." "And how many children do you have?" ""I had four children, one has died, and I have three daughters."" "Ten minutes have passed." "For everyone, it feels like an hour." " well, Carrie?" " It's interesting." "I have some photos to show you." "The eyes are this brilliant colour green, there's a little bit of blue, but it's somewhat faded." "The traces on the iris - these marks." "She has marks that are quite similar, and moles as well." "Now when you look at the eyes, if you just looked at that and not the rest, you'd think those were the same eyes a few years later." "We've been given permission by the men in the family for me to go in and take a few pictures." "She's quite reluctant to let any man see her face, in particular a foreigner." "It's quite a privilege we've been granted." "Thank you for letting us come and meet you, and for coming all the way from Afghanistan." "You were very young when this was taken." "Do you have any remembrance of this picture, that day, of what happened?" "TRANSLATOR:" "I remember that day." "I was wearing this shawl, which was burned over here at home while cooking." "I still recall this dress, and that day." "And where was this picture taken?" "TRANSLATOR:" "This picture was taken in the school, and there was a tent in the background, and there was a Iot of sunlight that day." "This was the only picture ever taken of you?" "RAHIMULLAH:" "Yes, she says, "I was never photographed before this, and never after this."" "We got to ask her just a few questions, but as you can see, she's so shy, she would hardly talk." "The amazing thing is she gave me a couple of details that Steve had told me earlier and that matched up with her story." "She even pointed out these holes in her shawl which she remembered because it had been burned in a fire." "She said she was the Iast one he took pictures of that day, which is what Steve told me." "She remembered that it was right inside the tent in the edge " "Steve said that's what happened." "He used the light just by opening the flap." "Those details match up." "The search has taken a surprising turn." "The case is not yet solved, but it's much closer than a few moments ago." "Sharbat and her brother, Kashar Khan, recall their final days in Afghanistan in the early '80s." "What happened to your parents?" "MALE TRANSLATOR:" "Our parents were both killed by the bombing of the Soviet jet fighters." "At that time, a number of people were killed and injured." "There was no proper medical treatment." "I don't really recall our parents." "I was very small at the time." "Their lives were under such random, violent assaults." "Their mother and father had to be buried under the cover of darkness." "MALE TRANSLATOR:" "We left for the refugee camp with our grandmother." "It was very difficult, a difficult journey." "We had to walk through the mountains." "(Bombs falling)" "The Russian planes and helicopters were flying overhead and they were looking for targets." "We had to hide in the caves, and it was cold." "And I remember one night which we spent on the way." "There was snowfall on the one side, very cold." "But then we were trying to light a fire to remain warm, so it was a very difficult night." "FEMALE TRANSLATOR:" "So when we came to live in the refugee camp in Pakistan," "I continued to be scared of planes because I thought they could bomb us again and kill us." "By the time she was 1 3, Sharbat's marriage was arranged." "I was happy, I can say, for the first year of marriage, but then there was so much suffering." "TRANSLATOR:" "Our daughter was a beautiful child, but she died at about eight months." "She fell ill while I was at work." "She was taken to the city hospital, but still she died." "Rahmat Gul is Sharbat's husband." "He was not able to be with her when their daughter died." "He works in Peshawar because there is little work for a baker in the remote mountains of Afghanistan." "Since their marriage, he's spent most of his time away from home and sends money back to his family." "In a setting that's more comfortable for Sharbat," "Rahimullah arranges to have a respected ophthalmologist, Dr Mustafa Iqbal, examine her eyes." "Got to tell you, I'm feeling a little bit of an adrenaline rush." "We're very close, the story matches up." "And this is a real acid test, to have the eye doctor examine and see if he can find those same freckles in the iris." "Dr Iqbal is from Pakistan." "He studied at one of the most prestigious eye surgery institutions in the world," "Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England." "The most striking thing about this original picture was this deep blue colour around the iris, and we've still got that." "When she looks at the sky, you can still see that blue iris." "BO YD:" "Yes, it's still there." "The other thing to look for is the mark over here... ..which corresponds very well to the original picture." "What we're also interested in is the shape of the upper lip." "If you look at it, that has more or less remained the same." "No doubt about it, this is the same lady." "We have found the Afghan girl." "The holy grail." "Yes, we have found the holy grail." "Back in Washington, the fbi has offered to lend their expertise." "Forensic examiner Tom Musheno usually spends his days identifying criminals from security cameras." "Today he's helping solve a 1 7-year-old mystery." "In this case, I Iook at things like shape of the eyes and any specific identifying characteristics like mole patterns, or scars, chipped teeth, ear patterns." "It doesn't take long for Musheno to find a problem." "well, one of the first things I noticed was indeed the mole on the upper... just above the right side of the upper lip, what appears to be a mole." "And it's not consistent with the woman, the older woman, the image taken just recently." "moles, actually, a very small percentage, less than one per cent, of the moles will disappear." "normally, they just stay in the same place, possibly get larger." "Back at lridian Technologies, they are also working with photographs of Sharbat." "Yeah, I'd be sceptical." "If this is the same eye, then clearly, some things that were not in here have appeared in here." "Full of doubt, it all comes down to the eyes." "Will they be able to identify one woman among millions?" "Some of the matches are as good as we see in daily operation with our imagers." "What the computer reveals is astonishing." "We can say that we're confident that it's the same person with a probability on the order of one in 1 00 million or so that we're wrong." "So, we feel pretty confident." "And the fbi has new evidence - a never before published photograph of the original Afghan girl." "And if you look very closely, there is no mole to be found above her lip." "TOM:" "And being a person in a refugee camp, it's quite possible it was dirt." "The conclusion, considering all of the consistencies, and there are so many of them, and considering that the inconsistencies are explainable, is that it's the same woman, it's the same person." "When Steve hears the results, he rushes back to Pakistan and goes directly to Rahimullah's house." "I got very excited when I heard that she had been located, and in fact, that she'd come to Peshawar and was ready to meet me." "Sharbat is waiting in the next room." "Steve will see for himself if the child he photographed 1 7 years ago is Sharbat Gula, now a woman with a family of her own." "hello." " She says, "I can remember you."" " Oh, is that right?" "Yeah, it's a Iong time ago." "I knew that her life was very difficult just by looking at her face at that time, but I'm very sad to hear that she lost both of her parents during the war." " I'm very sad." " And a child lost." "It's extraordinary to see her... and to see those eyes again." "I think she looks great after 1 7 years living in Afghanistan, living in a refugee camps." "Her eyes are still alert, and still sort of penetrating today as they were back then." "The face that inspired so many to give... now has a voice." "TRANSLATOR:" "I'd Iike the American people to help rebuild Afghanistan." "Afghanistan has been so destroyed, the schools, the countryside have been damaged, the whole country is a mess." "We need all of the support we can get to rebuild my country." "Perhaps Sharbat's story will motivate others to help fulfil a burning desire shared by all refugees..." "..for peace and knowledge." "TRANSLATOR:" "I want my kids to go to school so they receive a proper education." "If you are educated, then you can learn any skills, you can make a better life." "I gave up my education, but I want my children to go to school." "Sharbat Gula slipped into anonymity many years ago." "Through her eyes, she's given us a brief glimpse into her life." "STEVE:" "The fact that we're able to see her at all is sort of a miracle." "In this culture, this Pashtun culture, they're covered up." "So the fact that she's lifted up her burka and revealed her face to the world, essentially, is sort of a minor miracle." "Her eyes have not changed." "A difficult history is now etched in her face, but hope remains constant." "TRANSLATOR:" "I think if God is willing, I will stay alive." "only God decides on which day, and at which moment, I will die."