SOLA: A New Hope

     The thing that amazes me the most about Shabana and the Afghan girls of SOLA is their ability to never lose hope. As the sisters of Shabana mentioned in the video, no matter what has happened in the past, they believe that they as well as all the other SOLA girls will see their homes and families again. Shabana must be one of the most selfless and resilient people on this Earth. She used her scholarship opportunity at Middlebury to learn and take action to help Afghan girls, rather than herself. She kept her promise to the father of a SOLA girl to burn her records to protect their family. Despite facing literal death from the Taliban, Shabana does what she must to help Afghan girls get educated. 

The video we watched and Dr. Quimby’s whole presentation really put into perspective just how lucky we are here in the United States. When I heard the Taliban’s belief that “a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave,” I was jaw-dropped. These social customs and cultural practices in Eastern and Southern Afghanistan that have led them to think this way is simply appalling. As a woman, being seen only as something for reproductive purposes is something I can not fathom. My big question is: why? Why would you even want this? It would be best for the country to have women working — the more people working leads to more things that can get done. That makes me wonder: What are these customs really rooted in? Is it out of the desire to control women? To take away their identity or sense of empowerment? Whatever the reason, I don’t understand how these leaders sleep at night knowing what they are doing to girls and women in their country. How are you content with your mother, your sister, your aunt only getting up to a sixth grade education? 

We have gotten rid of the mask mandates for COVID, so I have faith that their will come a time when the girls of SOLA don’t have to wear masks to protect their identities and their families. Steps are being taken in the right direction — a new SOLA campus is being built in Rwanda, SOLAx is being developed to give education access to as many girls as possible. If the Afghan girls have hope, we must have hope too.