<div><strong>MEET ZEINAB</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="66146153_1656095474124055_r.jpeg" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/66146153_1656095474124055_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>MY MISSION</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This October, I will be representing Afghanistan and Afghan women in the <strong>IRONMAN 70.3</strong> <strong>Triathlon World Championship as the first Afghan woman ever </strong>to compete and finish the race. I'm <strong>raising $USD 15,000</strong> to help Afghan girls in my homeland by supporting an all-female underground school and other Afghan women in need. It's my wish for more women and girls to follow in my footsteps and participate in sports at all levels; no matter what their religious or socio-economic backgrounds, where they're from, or their political circumstances.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When I compete in Utah this October, I will be the first Afghan woman to race the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in the face of the Taliban's restrictions that girls are not permitted to attend school past the age of 12 and women in public must wear a burqa at all times. I am taking a stand (well, a bike, a swim, and a run) and showing that my fellow countrywomen are capable of competing on an international stage. I compete despite the very real fears for family members’ safety back home. I aim to be a voice and advocate for the rights of Afghan women and girls, so that the world cannot turn its back on the oppression they are all facing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>MY BACKGROUND</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My name is Zeinab. I am a girl from a poor minority ethnic group in Bamyan, central Afghanistan. I was raised in a very conservative province in western Afghanistan. Despite economic hardship and traditional cultural barriers and insecurity, I was lucky to have the opportunity to begin my education with the collapse of the first Taliban period and the arrival of the new government that allowed for both girls and boys to pursue an education. I remember attending class with girls much older than myself, as well as mothers. I spent 20 years learning and growing in a country I love. This was an opportunity those who came before me were not afforded. That opportunity may never exist for women in Afghanistan again if we do not create greater awareness, advocacy, and act now to support them.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In 2016, I started running to improve my physical and mental health with Free to Run, an NGO that empowers women and girls impacted by conflict through sport. For my passion and dedication to training, I was chosen to participate in an ultramarathon. I became the fourth Afghan female ultrarunner by completing a 250-km self-supported multi-stage ultra-marathon across the Gobi Desert.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Training for an ultra race was difficult, not just because of the distance involved, but also due to the lack of safe places for women to train in public. One of the safe places we secured was in part thanks to a group of volunteers on a foreign military base. They would bring us onto their compound so we could run safely. During these runs, I met an American woman and triathlete named Jackie Faye who was training to become the first woman to do six IRONMANs on six continents in a single calendar year. She was racing in order to fund and launch the nonprofit <a href="https://www.shecantri.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She Can Tri</a>. Up until this point, I had never heard of triathlon or IRONMAN, but Jackie Faye introduced me to this world.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In January 2019, I was selected from a pool of athletes to compete on the first all-Afghan Female Triathlon team organized by She Can Tri. I trained for an entire year with minimal resources and in the face of many barriers. I was the only woman who completed at this international triathlon. When I crossed the finish line of IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai, I made history as the first woman from Afghan to do so.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Many Afghan girls heard my story and began following in my footsteps, fighting the taboos that stood against their dreams. They did so until last year when the Taliban took over my country once again. However, my story doesn't finish here. My next goal is to bring Afghan women into the spotlight and represent my country at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Throughout my life in Afghanistan, I have always tried to push beyond what is expected of a female with my background and culture. Today, I am a Fulbright Scholar, a runner, and the First Afghan woman to complete an Ironman Triathlon. It was not an easy journey to come this far,  but not impossible with the support of this organization and mentorship. Now, it is the time for me to give back to my country, a place where women have become more vulnerable than ever before. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As I am telling my story and launching this campaign, there have been more than 300 days passed that girls in grades six to twelve have not been able to go to school. They've lost over one year of education they cannot get back. In the beginning, I wanted this campaign to provide more athletic opportunities for women in my country, but how is that possible when women and girls are banned from their basic rights to education? We must start here.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I'm currently training for the <strong>IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George, Utah, USA, on October 28-29th, 2022</strong>, while pursuing a full-time MBA at Colorado State University. I am grateful that as an Afghan woman I have these opportunities, while many others live with the fear of leaving their homes without their faces covered, accompanied by a male chaperone. My opportunity is not one that can be taken for granted.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I hope you will consider supporting me and my campaign, which supports the future of all Afghan women.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank You,
</div>
<div>Zeinab.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>MEDIA</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><iframe media_type="0" media_id="WZKlFljk4Tw" class="youtube-replace" title="YouTube video player" style="margin-bottom:20px;width:560px;height:315px;" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WZKlFljk4Tw/?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1"></iframe>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><iframe media_type="0" media_id="BQCID08mSSk" class="youtube-replace" title="YouTube video player" style="margin-bottom:20px;width:560px;height:315px;" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BQCID08mSSk/?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1"></iframe>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong> </strong>
</div>

Anonymous

Erin Basgier

RUBEN ALVAREZ

Shannon Smith

Emma Aldridge

Genevieve Boutin

Ron Michaels

jonathan zeif

One January 

Nicole Staudinger

Mina Goldstein

Amy Finkelstein

Arianna Niro

My Journey As 1st Afghan Woman To Do Ironman 2022

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation for My Journey As 1st Afghan Woman To Do Ironman 2022