By: Adela Azin/Translated by Sakhi Rezaie
Saimah, Fatemah, Fershtah and Zahra are from Ghazni and Kunduz provinces. Despite the ban on girls from school and university, they came to Kabul to study secretly. Girls were allowed to go to educational centers in first two years after the Taliban takeover. These four friends had joined painting, calligraphy, English language and computer, and speech and declamation skills classes.
How did they come to Kabul?
One day, Saima realizes she can’t develop her educational skills if she does not go to Kabul. Then, she tells her close friends, Fatemah, Fershtah and Zahra that she has decided to go to Kabul to develop her educational skills by using the facilities available there. First, her family did not agree with her, but when she insisted on her decision, her family allowed her to go to Kabul.
Fatemah was in the 10th grade of school when Taliban returned to power like a disastrous strong wind and then banned school on girls above sixth grade. She could continue her education in secret in coordination with administration of their local school.
The pressure gradually increased and the teachers, fearing the Taliban, banned girls from education above sixth grade. In the same year, Fareshtah and Zahra were promoted to the 11th grade, and Saimah and Fatemah could not complete the 12th grade.
Despite security concerns and financial problems, Fatemah’s family decided to send their daughter to Kabul to learn the necessary skills with her friends. Fatemah says: “My brother said: You should study, even if we ourselves remain hungry.”
Fareshtah and Zahra, who are both cousins, convince their families in Jaghouri and Kunduz to accompany Saimah and Fatemah and go to Kabul.
There is a rumor in the village that the daughters of so-and-so are going to Kabul to study. A city that is now under the control of the Taliban and is not safe for girls at all. “How can a girl travel without a close male relative in this situation, girls become lost and should not go. No one is satisfied, in this situation, no one rents a house for girls, this job requires guarantee.”
People’s bad rumors can’t prevent girls from going on an educational trip to Kabul. Saimah, Fatemah and Fareshtah from Ghazni Province and Zahra from Kunduz Province go to Kabul.
Problem of girls Living in Kabul
Finding a house with reasonable rent and in a safe area for women, in this period, is one of the most difficult tasks that girls face in Kabul. Fatemah says: “The first night we came to Kabul, we cried because of loneliness and being away from our families.”
Next Edict of the Taliban: Girls are banned from attending Educational Centers
The Girls enroll in educational centers in Kabul; The Taliban leader also orders the closure of educational centers for girls; Therefore, they can’t go to class. Saimah and Fatemah, Fereshtah and Zahra wait for a month in Kabul so that the order of the Taliban leader might change. But it has not changed until today but these restrictions have increased.
They are now disappointed with opening the school gates to girls, wish to be able to continue their education abroad. They work on their English skills to get a scholarship to a foreign country and continue their education.
They Read Books
These four friends have been reading books in the three and a half years after the fall of Kabul. In addition, they embroider to make the dark days of life easier for them.
Despite countless obstacles, they persevered and studied in Kabul for several months. Now Saimah and Fatemah have returned to Jaghori and are secretly teaching in one of the educational centers of this district. Fereshtah and Zahra follow English and computer classes online, and Fereshtah also became an apprentice in one of Kunduz tailors.
Fatemah and Fereshtah, who sometimes miss going to school, paint and Fatemah writes her dreams so that she might become a writer one day. But all four of them have not lost their dream of continuing their education regardless of their desired field. They are still fighting to achieve that dream.
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