Help Safia find hope again

Hi my name is Sharen and I am asking for your help to give the power of education to Safia from Afghanistan who wants to continue her education on line. Let me tell you about this resilient and courageous young woman.

Safia is a dynamic Afghan woman, vibrant and full of dreams. Having completed her first year of university, those dreams were shattered as the doors to universities and all opportunities were shut tight to millions of girls and women under the Taliban regime’s imposition of gender apartheid.

“Not to be defined by the Taliban”, a defiant Safia explains, she and her sister trekked over two hours a day, 6 days a week to give lessons to poor village children in her remote mountainous region. They did this clandestinely as even this simple gesture of teaching children without the oversight of the Taliban was forbidden.

Recently Safia had to flee her community as security was becoming more and more an issue. Now living with relatives in a larger city, she is trying to find purpose in life and she needs our help. Following is part of a text conversation I had with her yesterday.

”Tomorrow, August 15, is the darkest day, the most terrible date in Afghanistan’s history, especially for its women.

It has been four years since this nightmare began. I hate this situation.

I wish that by next year, either they’re gone… or I am.

Every day, new restrictions and laws are imposed on women. We are living in a prison not alive, not dead.

Sometimes I feel like giving up on everything. I think about ending it all, imagining that I’ll finally be free from all worries.

We say in Dari خودکشی [suicide] sometimes I think for this.

But no that’s not the end. I must fight. It’s not time yet. I have to fight for my family, to change my future. My younger siblings look up to me. I am their hope.”

Afghan girls and women are resisting and risking their lives daily attending underground schools and classes. In addition to studying English and other subjects, they spend their days applying for the scarce scholarships that exist worldwide. Online opportunities are available but for the majority they are unattainable due to poverty and the lack of resources. This is Safia’s current situation. With no money to purchase a computer or pay for internet, she has no way forward.

A basic computer in Afghanistan costs around $300. A year of internet costs around $240. I have added another $60 to cover set up and other related expenses such as learning materials and supplies as well as the commission cost of this campaign.

I will let Safia conclude in her own words:

”Having a computer and a bit of internet would not just help me learn, it would give me hope again. I want to do something meaningful with my life, not just for myself, but for my younger siblings and my parents who are already suffering enough.

Right now, I feel like I’m living in a shadow but even one small light can change that.

Thank you for being that light.”