If you remember the sense of isolation and despair felt by many here in Australia during the height of Covid lockdowns, you will remember how daily walks, phone calls, music and random chats with neighbours or strangers became the highlights of the day.

Imagine going back to this but with some more draconian rules – if you are a female, you are not allowed out of your house for any reason unless you are accompanied by a male. You are not allowed to study past year 6 and males can mostly only study religious texts. Female voices must not be heard at all, ever, even by someone walking past your house on the outside. No singing, no dancing, not even praying. And if you break these rules? You will be at best severely beaten, or possibly even executed. Young women are regularly married off to men twice their age who treat them as possessions of the same worth as cattle.

This is life under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. It is genuinely like a scene from The Handmaid’s Tale, only this is real.

But there are brave people trying to provide some rays of light in this dark and depressed nation.

Meet Ahmad and Farzana, artists who run a secret school for girls and young women where they can study painting, art history, colour theory and drawing. With around 57 students, 5 days a week, morning and afternoon, they aim to give the young women hope and a safe space to express their feelings. Many of their artworks reflect their personal stories and emotions.

Art gives them a safe space to express themselves, reduce stress, and feel hopeful, which is not always easy considering the Taliban have now begun cutting internet to many parts of the country in an attempt to isolate them even more. Many people feel frightened to be cut off from people that help them in other countries or just from the connection to the outside world.

The school provides much needed social interaction with girls their own age and gives them with time away from the suffocating walls of their houses.

They are in need of financial support to cover basic costs such as art materials, transportation, and renting a safe space for the classes. Any contribution, even small, can bring a meaningful change in the lives of these girls.

The Apollo Bay branch of Rural Australians for Refugees has been financially supporting some families in this province for a number of years and recently became aware of this school. We hope you will help us to give some young women hope in a time where there is precious little.