(CNN)It was the middle of the night when BBI Bahrami's father awoke her and the rest of the family, telling them they must flee their home immediately. Bahrami, only a teenager at the time, remembers being in a state of shock.
"We just put our shoes on, and we were all crying."
It was 1979. The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, and word spread that troops would be coming to her family's village the next day to burn down houses.
Not knowing what was happening or where she was headed, BBI and her family of 12 began a difficult two-day journey on foot to Pakistan.
"We didn't want to leave home. We didn't know where we were going to end up," Bahrami said. "It was a lot of uncertainty."
It's a feeling that welled up again for her as she watched news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reading the headlines and seeing the lines of Ukrainian refugees brought back bad memories.
"When I saw that destruction, the damage, the bombing and killing of humans, it just hurts me. There are a lot of memories. When people even say 'Russian,' my body was like shaking about how cruel and how much damage they did to the Afghan people."
As the world recognizes International Women's Day, it's women like Bahrami whose work strives to make life better for women. International Women's Day celebrates the headway women have made so far in their pursuit of equality, and also calls for more progress around the world. That's something Bahrami has dedicated her life to.
After she was driven from her home, Bahrami and her family spent the next six years living in a refugee camp in Pakistan. Life was hard, but she said her family made the most of it. They started out living in a tent, but eventually made a sort of "mud house." Much like life in Afghanistan, however, girls in the refugee camp did not attend formal school.
"Because of security, girls did not have a school there. But my brothers did, and I was very eager to study and learn and studied with my brothers."
Despite all the hardships, the camp did bring a new light into her life. It's where she met her future husband, an Afghan student who had studied in America and who would eventually help them move to the US.
A reawakening
Bahrami and her husband, Saber, moved to Muncie, Indiana, raised six kids, and eventually brought her parents and other family members to the US. Being out of Afghanistan provided Bahrami with a lot of experiences that wouldn't be available to her back home.
"I attended GED classes, and I was so inspired by the opportunity. I had a daycare for my children, and I can still study and go to school. I was very, very inspired by those opportunities. And I say, I want to do this for the girls I left behind."
Inspired and now empowered to help the women and children back in Afghanistan, Bahrami had her dream, but having just had her sixth child, she wanted to wait until the time was right.
Then, the events of September 11 took place.
"I said, 'Now, I have to do something.'"
That's when her foundation, Afghan Women's and kids' Education and Necessities (AWAKEN), began to take shape.
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