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| Nargis Ehsan | Addressing a gathering on International Women's Day |
Nargis
Ehsan is a 17 year-old girl who has dedicated her life to the education of women
and girls in Afghanistan. She has been involved in connecting students in
Kandahar with teachers from different parts of the world through the internet.
She has been working to become an example and an inspiration for the girls in
Afghanistan so that they can also work towards achieving their dreams. Ji Soo
Ahn, one of our volunteers, sat down with her to discuss her work with KIMS,
AIWR and Pax Populi, and their hopes and challenges in the rapidly changing
political atmosphere of Afghanistan.
Could you start by
telling us a little about yourself?
I am 17.
I live with my two sisters, two brothers, my mum and my dad. There are seven
people in my family. I have dedicated my life to the cause of education, and
helping women in Kandahar towards becoming educated. I graduated from my high
school this year. I successfully made my way through a scholarship to the
American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. I will be studying Bachelor in
Business Administration (BBA) there. I also finished English and Computer
skills at Kandahar Institute of Modern studies (KIMS from here). But I am still
studying Business Management studies online from SAIT Polytechnic in Canada. I
have worked as English instructor at KIMS and as a coordinator for Alliance for
International Women’s Rights (AIWR from here) and Pax Populi. The one of the
most interesting things about AIW and Pax populi is getting to know the people
from different cultures, which is my hobby. I really love meeting new people
from all around the world. I can say that I am a risk-taking girl. I love
taking risks. In the conservative area like Kandahar, you have to take risks in
order to get education.
You are very passionate about the
education. Who and/or what inspired you towards this path?
My dad is
the director of KIMS. He has been working for educating Afghan women in
Kandahar since 2002. But he was also working for education even when we were in
Pakistan; he had an institute and was educating the girls there. He has been
working for educating women for a long time and he is still training more than
1500 women at KIMS. He is my biggest inspiration towards getting 'addicted' to
education.
Also it
is hard for women to get education in Kandahar and in Afghanistan in
general. After watching most of families
not letting their girls get education and these women’s situation, their lives
motivated me towards the education because I have this chance so I have to use
it. I want to be an example and an inspiration for those other families who do
not let their daughters get education. I want to be an inspiration so that
their parents can watch me and other many girls who are getting education, so
that they can watch us and they also let their daughters let their dreams come
true.
You work as a coordinator for
both AIWR and Pax Populi. Could you tell us a little bit about each
organisation and your work there?
AIWR’s
mission is to support women leaders and future women leaders in developing
countries, with their current focus on Afghanistan. The important aspect of AIW
is that creating the relationships between people of different cultures can
help improve international understanding. I work as a coordinator for AIWR ,
introducing young Kandahari women to the teachers online from around the world.
I help them arrange their classes, exchange the emails, organise their times
and days and prepare for the classes. We have, since I have been working with
AIWR, trained more than hundreds of Kandahari women, with the help of foreign
volunteers. Now they are working in the
organisations.
At Pax
Populi, its mission is to build peace through education. They have classes from
foreigners. They teach the students. We are building peace through education
and through these online classes. At Pax Populi I have the same duties; I
connect the foreigner teachers with students here online.
You are still a student yourself.
And you have worked with many women to get their education. What are the
challenges that women face when they get education?
There are
many reasons that stop Afghan women from getting their education. These
challenges are based on how conservative most of the provinces are. For
example, you will see fewer problems in Kabul, which is the capital of
Afghanistan than in other conservative areas such as Kandahar, Helmand and many
others. But the common challenges that these women face is the cultural
problems, that people create.
People
create and reinforce a mindset that discourages women from seeking education, a
mindset which has no real basis in the Islamic books. And the other problem is
the early marriages; most of the girls get married before they get the
education or before finishing their education. Most common problem, I can tell
you, is that girls get abused by the thugs on the streets. While they are on
their way to schools, they listen to so many bad words, which mentally kill
them. The thugs on the streets warned them and threaten them because they are
getting education and they are women. These are the common problems that girls
face. You have to abide by all these conditions, which I have done. Even I have
gone through so many, even still now when going to the university, I listen to
so many bad words. And what I do is that I just put on my headphones in the
ears, play a song and walk like a boss. That is how you can become successful
in Afghanistan. If you listen to people, you will kill yourself. You will have
to kill yourself if you listen to these people and what they think about you.
Because in their minds, women are nothing. That is terrible.
How do girls cope in this
situation? Was there any girl who gave up their education to avoid this?
I know a
girl. I don't know her abusers but they threw acid in her face, while she was
coming to the institute. They threw acid in her face, because she was getting
education and her face was all burnt. No one could think that she would
survive. But as soon as she recovered I saw her again at the institute, still
getting education. People have now learned that giving up is not the solution.
They have learned how to be confident when facing these problems.
How did KIMS affect your life?
What about the communities?
If I
didn't study at KIMS, I wouldn't be able to make my way to the American
university of Afghanistan. It is the same for so many other girls. We have so
many students in Kabul; they made our way to the university. Of course it
change my life. It made me capable. The studies at the institute made me
capable of how to communicate with the online teachers from around the world,
who help the students here to fulfil their important aspect of their life. Also
it helped me with my business management studies. It really helped me choose my
future. One of the most difficult decisions I needed to make is what I will
study in the future. My business studies made me entrust in studying Bachelor
in Business Administration (BBA) that is what I am going to do. Overall it
helped me become who I am today. I also became a big inspiration for many girls
at the institute. The girls who get education at KIMS, they are the biggest
inspiration to the families so that they can also let their daughters to get
education. I started university and I am still working for the institute from
Kabul. When I left I asked a friend who belongs to the conservative family if
she can do my job now that I am leaving. She talked with her family and her
family said that seeing me working as a coordinator and interacting with
people from all around the world was inspiration so you can also be, you can
definitely go and work. It was really great to hear that.
There is news about the
withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan and how it might affect the
funding for the school. Could you describe the current situation of KIMS due to
this?
The US was
great help to Afghanistan and to the people of Afghanistan. But unfortunately,
when they invested money in the past, about 80% of the aid money was wasted.
Most organisations and individuals who took on the projects; they wasted this
aide money on lavish salaries, luxury cars, and properties. KIMS and the
organisations like KIMS were starved of funding. I think the withdrawal of the
US troops is affecting my work as a teacher at KIMS already. As the money
started to decrease, our institute suffered. The classes were dismissed due to
no funding. It is just a matter of time before our institute closes its doors,
which will lead to the unemployment of 100s staff members of KIMS including me.
I can say
more than 1500 students will be left out of their studies due to no funding.
That is too much. I can tell that Afghanistan still needs the help of US and
international communities to support us. You know KIMS is and was a hope for
1000s of women. It still is a hope for 1000s of women at Kandahar where they
could see their dreams come true and where they thought that they have future.
So if there is no funding or no support from US, I am sure all these hopes and
dreams, they would die. I can say overall Afghanistan still will be in
situation from the past when women were sitting beside the closed doors at
their homes because institute has no funding. This is the problem that will
occur, which has already occurred.
What is your next move?
After I
do my BBA, I really love education. I want to study many fields. I would like
to continue my studies to master and PhD. But beside that, I would love to
assume a leadership position and would love to have a big role in making this
country a beautiful place. I want to raise the economy of Afghanistan through
my business study. I want to improve Afghanistan; I want to have a good
relationship with the world through economy.