Send Shaima to School

"Shaima has just arrived at the English Language Institute and she got into the

classroom!"  Those were the simple and amazing words of the kind official at the American

University of Bulgaria on October 6, telling me that one Afghan girl is exactly where she

belongs: in a place of learning.  

 

I'm happy to give you an opportunity to join me in supporting this promising young Afghan

woman who is moving to a new stage in her life, to live free from fear, and who could use our

support. 

 

Shaima Rezaie was born to an Afghan Hazara family, and her father was executed by the Taliban

in 2001 when she was an infant.  As most recently seen in the horrific attack on Kabul

schoolgirls on September 30, Hazara Shias remain under threat from both the fundamentalist

Sunni Taliban and the Islamic State.  She and her sister escaped from Afghanistan in August

2021 and made their way to Pakistan, where they have been supported by the Omar family who

had known them in Kabul (Wahid, a USAID implementing partner and an education consultant,

and Soraya who worked for the Business Council for Peace in Afghanistan.)

 

After the initial airlift in August 2021, doors around the world -- especially the USA -- were shut

to many Afghan academics and others fleeing repression. Shaima and her sister stayed in

Pakistan past their visa's duration, with no viable options and tremendous fear of deportation.

Meanwhile, I met Annie Pforzheimer through a group trying to help Afghan scholars and she

decided to see if her family's connection to Bulgaria could be of service.  With a LOT of time

spent learning Bulgarian and Pakistani bureaucracies, we were successful in late September in

getting Shaima a student visa for Bulgaria. Shaima's sister is being processed for a US visa

through marriage, and Shaima is going to study English at the American University in Bulgaria -

a truly wonderful institution.  They are providing her and another Afghan girl with an

opportunity to further their educations, at a fraction of the cost of a university in the United

States and hope to bring out even more Afghan students to study there.

As Shaima puts it, finishing her education is a way to "be of service to people.  I want to do my

best in my studies so that I make the people who supported me proud."

Annie and I are fund-raising and friend-raising.  We have come up with the tuition, books,

housing, and living expenses for Shaima for her first semester but need to keep looking for

additional support.  

For those who are able, we ask that you please donate funds to this Go Fund Me

account for Shaima.  Alternatively, you may consider donating to this American

University in Bulgaria fund https://www.aubg.edu/donate/support-for-students-from-

afghanistan/, with a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) status, to defray the costs for any Afghan

student (including Shaima) who is successful in getting to Bulgaria to study at the

University.   

For those in Bulgaria, we ask that you consider donating winter clothing for Afghan

girls and extending hospitality to them as they make a life far from their families and

homes.  You can contact me for further details.