By: Sherin Yousufy
The Taliban’s government has prevented girls of secondary education from returning to school after it seized power last year. The number of girls out of school is believed to be millions, most of whom are worried and uncertain about the future they once planned for themselves before the Taliban’s takeover.
But some girls still haven’t given up, despite the challenges they face. They study hard to get scholarships, educate children in secret and online schools, and work from home to generate income to support their families. Some are even creating artworks such as paintings.
They all chase a common goal which is to circumvent the Taliban’s draconian restrictions on girls and women.
Mah Liqa, a 14-year-old grade eight student, said she wanted to study medicine at the former military’s university, but she now knows it is impossible to achieve that goal in Taliban’s Afghanistan. Instead, she has started studying English to get a scholarship and study abroad.
“I am still trying to achieve my dream,” she said, adding that she has studied her school books and 13 novels at home. She has applied to study school outside the country, but she hasn’t heard back if her application has been accepted or rejected.
Like Mah Liqa, 17-year-old Maryam is also studying English to study abroad. Maryam, who is in grade 11 at school, is preparing to take TOEFL exam, so she can apply for a scholarship and study computer science abroad.
“I was completely depressed and had no motivation to work and study at home” when schools were closed, she said. “But I had to keep going for a better future and for my dreams.”
Schoolgirls use different approaches to empower themselves at a time they have lost almost their every basic rights including the right to education and work.
Samira Hamdard, 18, who is in grade 12 at school, started her own business after the Taliban took power, turning a challenge into an opportunity. She now buys raw materials such as fabric and beads from the market, and distributes them to women who use them to produce traditional women’s clothes known as “Gand-e-Afghani” in their homes.
“It was difficult in the beginning, but later I got familiar with how the labor market works,” she said.
She has made 180,000 Afghani, an amount over 2,000 USD, since she started her business, and she is planning to use that money to start a factory of her own if the situation improves. Samira also contributes financially to support her family of eight.
Afghanistan has become one of the worst places to be a woman. But being a female artist is even more frightening. The Taliban dislike both the artists and the women. But this hasn’t stopped some schoolgirls from following their passion of becoming painters.
Mahbooba, a grade ten school student, enrolled in a painting class just two months after her school was closed.
“I have been painting since I was a child and now, I am happy to learn it professionally,” she said. “I want to have a gallery of my paintings and hold an exhibition if the situation improves.”
Online and secret schools have also been proven efficient to fight against the ban on girls’ education. Saman, an 18-year-old grade 11 student, knew the important role underground and secret schools could play in educating children. That is the reason why she turned her house into a secret school, teaching children aged between seven and 12.
“Taliban cannot stop women and girls,” she said, “because we are not the girls and women of twenty years ago.”
