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Khatera Yusufi – Journalist and Presenter (TV, Events)
Khatera Laily Yusufi is the daughter of a doctor father and a journalist-presenter-writer mother. She was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. At the age of five she got her first experience of TV when she appeared in a children’s programme.
Little Khaty’s dream of an ideal world fell apart when the war forced her family to leave the country:
when she a child, they fled to India. Later on fate brought them to Germany which is now her second home.
Even though she had lost her home country, she found joy of life and hope in India. She learned the Urdu language and was fascinated by Indian culture, especially by Indian music and later by Indian lyric poetry.
In Germany Khatera attended after primary school the Heinzenwies-Gymnasium and – after a few initial difficulties – discovered her talent for multilingualism and literature.
Music, art, theatre
She started to write at a very early age and she speaks several languages. Apart from German and English literature she was also very interested in French and especially in Persian literature which have influenced her considerably.
She has a talent for languages and has a good command of both Urdu and Latin.
During her school years the works of Goethe, Brecht, Hemingway, Rumi, Rilke were among her favourite reading. Today, she uses various languages easily when presenting in the media and in the cultural sector.
Languages and art were among her favourite occupations as early as her teen years.
The talented young lady performed in theatre plays like Bert Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera”, Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and plays by her director, art teacher and theatre coach Dr. Armin Faust.
In secondary school Khatera started singing in the school choir and was part of the Herrstein Choir. The ensemble performed in large cathedrals. Musicals such as “Loreley” and gospel songs were part of their repertoire.
She enjoyed reciting poetry and dialogues in theatre plays ad lib.
Khatera has a special interest in poetry and literature written in her Dari/Persian mother tongue.
“Art and literature offer me a world outside reality that enriches my life.”Khatera Her family supported and encouraged her to put her dreams and ideas into practice.
Her mother Zohra Yusufi is an experienced journalist, writer and well-known presenter and encourages Khatera to develop her Dari/Farsi language skills. She trains Khatera as a presenter and supports her in language and journalistic matters.
Education and Training, Professional experience
Due to her commitment, the school headmistress requested her to be the speaker at her school-leaving ceremony.
Not only did she successfully complete her final examinations and prepare for university. She also collected money for schools in Afghanistan, through the “Freundeskreis Afghanistan e.V.” NGO and convinced her school to sponsor children in Afghanistan.
After her school leaving exam she was selected among many candidates for the TV academy which allowed her to enter the wide world of the media.
At the TV academy she attended courses in TV journalism, media studies, production technology. She also studied oriental studies and dramaturgy at Ludwig Maximilian University.
During her studies she took on assignments as a TV presenter at gala events and at festivals.
Professional speech training and coaching in presenting from media specialists such as her presenting coach Dr. Wilhelmi, Dr. Berls (ZDF), Wolf-Dieter Ring (Präsident der BLM), Thomas Zwießler, Pr. Dr. Müller, Ulrich Craemer, Walter Gollwitzer (BR) contributed to her success.
Khatera learned her journalist’s ABC from well-known journalists, producers and experts.
She has worked as a presenter for CM-TV, at gala events, in a talk show with celebrities from the media, at talent shows and music festivals.
Khatera works for TV-Touring and the German network Sat.1 and she writes for various print media.
cultural activities, awards
In 2006, the versatile journalist and Arts worker ( member of "culture-mirror-afghanistan") organised an international literature seminar together with the Afghan embassy in Berlin. In her speech as a youth representative she suggested establishing a House of Culture for the intercultural exchange between Afghanistan and Germany and the Ambassador of Afghanistan to present the speech of Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan which was send to "culture-mirror-afghanistan". The Afghan president and foreign minister and the ambassador welcomed her idea.
In 2007 she was asked to represent the Maulana House, an institution dedicated to the famous Persian writer Rumi, in Germany. Rumi is also known as Maulana Balchi, son of the Orient. She sees Rumi’s work as a great inspiration for life and she is planning projects in Rumi’s honour for the year 2007.
In 2002 she was awarded “presenter and media face of the year” .
In the same year she received the title of Miss Afghanistan Germany 2002 because of her commitment to social matters in Afghanistan, her work for the promotion of culture and for intercultural exchange. Her multilingualism and the use of her Dari language skills also contributed to her winning the title which was awarded for the first time till now.
But due to her respect for Afghan women and their culture, Khatera, who is committed to the cause of oppressed women, did not participate in the Miss World contest.
Khatera Yusufi wanted instead to support the rights of Afghan women and orphans. She worked together with former European Commissioner Emma Bonino who had been in charge of the Humanitarian Office and has since been supporting human rights organisations such as the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Freundeskreis Afghanistan e.V. and UNICEF.
“If we all work on ourselves and remain true to ourselves this will make the world a little bit of a better place already!” Khatera
In 2003 Global Beauties wrote about Khatera: “Khatera is a real beauty who maintains modesty. Her culture and her country are important to her and she is not interested in superficialities.”
Frankfurter Rundschau (renowned German news paper) named Khatera beside other beauties such as Miss Germany in 2002 as one of the beautiful women with a magical aura.
Even before September 11, Khatera, an ambassador of peace, tried to raise awareness of fanaticism and terrorism with action days and demonstrations and she criticized the West’s indifference to Afghanistan.
In 2000 the 18 year old young lady showed courage: she was one of the organisers of the big Berlin demonstration against terrorism and appeared as a speaker.
A poem was written about her commitment and Karwan magazine honoured Khatera with an article in 2002 where they emphasized her commitment, her courage and her talents.
Khatera has written articles and produced TV features about the abominable deeds of the terrorists. She has pleaded for the liberation of Afghanistan and the protection of cultural identity.
“A country without culture is like a person without a soul.” Khatera
Khatera has achieved special popularity through her unmistakable personality.
Even though her face is present in the media she wants to retain her naturalness and her empathy and remain true to herself.
In 2003 Khatera was, as the first German-Afghan, guest of honour and member of the jury at the Miss India event. As a sign of Afghan-Indian friendship she handed the crown to Miss India Germany. Her appearance on the popular indian TV station Zee-TV made her known in India as well.
“India is a colourful and beautiful country, a country of dreams but also of contrasts. The music, the poetry and the classical dance fascinate me time and again.”
Khatera likes to live the “oriental way of life” and wants to inspire young people to “attain something positive on our short journey through life”.
vita by Doris