Success stories
The Refugee Education and Development (READ) Project has successfully awarded thousands of dollars to eligible participants, allowing them to pursue their higher educational goals and interests. Below are a few life stories of some of the individuals lives we have impacted.
Disclaimer: The names and details have been anonymized to avoid identification of individuals for privacy and confidentiality purposes.
Iman
Afghan Lawyer, 27
Iman is a 27 year old lawyer and women’s rights activist from Kabul. She pursued a career in law because she wanted to “create fairness in my country in hopes of making a better future for women”. She graduated in law from Rana University in 2020 and practiced as a family lawyer. She represented many clients as part of the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association, including women seeking divorces from their Taliban-affiliated husbands. She also was heavily involved with the organization Justice for Women, advocating for women’s rights in Afghanistan. Even after the Taliban retook power in 2021, she continued to meet with fellow activists who gathered to strategize how to respond to the Taliban’s ban of women’s education. She also participated in public protests against the Taliban in November 2021.
When she was growing up, the Taliban repeatedly threatened her father and uncle because of their Tajik and Panjshiri heritage. After the Taliban recaptured Kabul, the threats returned. On four occasions, Taliban members came to her house and threatened to kidnap for reprisal for her representation of women seeking divorces and for her political activism. In January 2022, Iman, her cousin, a fellow lawyer with whom she worked in Kabul, and her cousin's two children, fled Afghanistan. They traveled from Pakistan to Brazil through South and Central America, before entering the United States at the Mexican border in late December 2022, claiming asylum. They currently live in Dumfries, VA near her cousin's family friend, but have little support and supplies.
Zara
Afghan Attorney
Zara is an Afghan attorney who graduated in law from Rana University in 2020. She supported indigent women in family law litigation as a member of the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association. She also did important work for the former Afghan Vice President as an advisor on women’s affairs, and volunteered with a non-profit advocating on behalf of Afghan women. Her cruel treatment by the Taliban as a child in the 1990’s inspired Zara to serve women who had their voices taken away. Zara’s work advocating for women’s rights drew the ire of the Taliban upon their return to power. They sought to arrest her and continue to harass her friends and family because of her past work.
Zara has a daughter, 16, and a son, 14. Zara and her children made the arduous journey with Iman. Zara and her children have a love of learning. When the Taliban banned girls’ schooling during Zara’s childhood, she secretly taught girls in her neighborhood to read and write. Zara persisted in her difficult journey to the United States because she knew that her daughter would receive an education and be treated as an equal here.
Lina
Paralegal
Lina is another warm and caring and earnest woman. In her effort to reinvent herself here in the US, she has confided in me that, while her visiting scholar opportunity that you will see below is something for which she will always be grateful, it has not really helped her get any future job, especially where she is located, plus it is ending in May. Her husband now has a job as a cashier at a Rite-Aid, but that is not enough to support the family. With the accomplishment of the paralegal certificate, she can hope to find paralegal work with a firm in the area, or if necessary move closer to the DC area. She was a key presenter in the recent NAWJ webinar.