An Afghan girl whose father wanted to sell his kidney so she could study at an American university, has finally arrived in the US.
“Shukria Rezayi”, whose real name is Saeeda, landed on Thursday to take up a scholarship to study medicine at Lynchburg University in Virginia.
Two months ago, Rukhshana Media reported on Shukria’s plight, using the pseudonym of Shukria to protect her security.
After being notified she had won a scholarship, she realized she would have to obtain a US visa in Pakistan as the US embassy in Kabul was closed when the Taliban came to power.
However, she was unable to obtain a visa to travel to Pakistan in time to take up the scholarship.
Adding to the difficulty was a Taliban decree forbidding women to travel without a chaperone. Saeeda’s father, who has been unemployed since the Taliban takeover, did not have the money to take her to Islamabad.
So he set about trying to sell a kidney to buy a much more expensive express visa on the black market and cover the costs of travel.
After reading of her plight, Afghan citizens abroad donated funds to allow Saeeda and her father to get to Islamabad in time.
Saeeda has endured many difficulties to get this scholarship, after Taliban restrictions made it impossible to go to university in Afghanistan.
At first, she was unable to raise the university’s application fee.
“When I couldn’t pay 350 dollars and requested the university to waive, the university gave me a negative answer, which was really disappointing,” she said.
The university eventually relented and she was awarded a full scholarship. But without being able to travel to Pakistan, it seemed she would not be able to accept it.
Saaeda says her success today feels like a miracle.
“The future is unpredictable. At that time, I never imagined that a few months later, I would get a scholarship to continue my favorite field of study in the US,” she said. “The Taliban had just closed all the courses and universities for girls.”
She thanked her family for never giving up.
“I was following my goal with determination and my family supported me. These two things have actually been the key to my success.”
For the past few months, she has been studying English and Math at the Daughters of Wisdom Educational Center in Kabul, a private center set up after the Taliban barred girls from higher education.
Saeeda said that she will try to help the girls who are now deprived of education in Afghanistan as much as possible, but she urges girls not to give in to the challenges of the times.
“I ask all girls not to be disappointed and try. The future is not predictable. Just as we did not foresee the coming of the Taliban, just as I did not think that I would come to America one day. Maybe one day you will study in better places than me. So don’t despair.”
Saeeda begins a challenging educational journey after the rule of the Taliban. Millions of women and girls have been denied the right to education due to the restrictions imposed on them. The Taliban only allow girls up to grade six to go to school.
