Eventually, Afghan dreamers left their country and migrated. Born after 2001, these teenagers have already caught the eye of the world with their incredible talents, skills, and talents. In a country where only 10 percent of the population has access to the Internet, in a country where only 15 percent of adult women are literate, girls are three times more likely to be educated than boys, where child marriage rates are alarming. He was bringing success to the country. The recent rise of the Taliban shattered their dream. They had big dreams about this country one day. They were building the Stem School and the Dreamers' Institute for the girls of this country, they announced that one day they would go to Mars as a girl from Afghanistan, they were forced to flee the country in the dark of night. Did they just step into uncertain life, or did unfortunate Afghanistan lose its most talented new generation? Only time will tell. In 2016, the first Afghan Dreamers surprised the world by winning the title of the International Robotics Competition held in Washington DC, USA. The following year, Rookie won the All-Star Award at the First Global Robotics Competition in Canada. Then they did not have to look back. However, not only in foreign lands but also in their own country, they were always ahead in inventing various wonders. In war-torn Afghanistan, they built robots to detect landmines. These girls weren't even sitting in the coveted supermarket. As soon as the first Kovid patient was identified in the state of Herat, they quickly called an emergency meeting and within a few days made a low-cost portable ventilator with old Toyota car parts. Their findings have garnered worldwide acclaim, with Somaiya being part of the Innovative Team's list of the BBC's 100 Most Responsive Women in 2020, named by UNICEF as the Voice of Youth. Forbes Magazine ranked Afghan Dreamers among the top 30 Asian Scientists and Inventors under 30. Until the Taliban took over, they worked with the Afghan government to establish the Dreamers' Institute. Raya first learned to use computers and the internet at the age of 18. In 2020, at just 23 years old, she became the first female tech CEO in Afghanistan. In 2012, he set up the Digital Citizen Fund. The goal of this non-profit organization was to promote digital literacy among women and children in Afghanistan. The company has set up IT centers in schools for school-going teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18, working tirelessly to ensure free internet services in schools. Apart from this, about 12,000 women and children have been taught non-formal IT. The fund also helps women in startup ventures. With the help of the fund, about 100 women have emerged as small entrepreneurs. The first STEM High School in Afghanistan was also built with his hands.
In 2013, Raya Mehboob was listed on the cover of Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. "Half of Afghanistan's population is teenagers," Raya said in an interview with Time magazine's Sheryl Sandberg. If we can give them access to education and technology, they will change society. We are going to establish the first science, technology, engineering art, and math school in Afghanistan.
But in a few days, everything turned upside down. Afghan dreamers have been facing various threats for a long time. They were becoming increasingly apprehensive about the Taliban's occupation process. He was repeatedly sending messages and texts to friends and well-wishers outside the country. They met Oklahoma resident Alison Renew in 2019 while attending the Human to Mars Summit in Washington DC. The 70-year-old Harvard graduate, a mother of nine, was shocked to read messages from frightened girls. After failing to contact the senators in her area, the woman flew herself to Qatar. There, his Harvard girlfriend did a great job at the Qatari embassy. With his help, a plane carrying 5 teenagers of Afghan Dreamers landed in Doha, Qatar on August 21. Then on August 25, they arrived in Mexico on another plane. Mexico's Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Delgado told Al Jazeera that she had personally gone to the airport to pick up the talented girls. He says they are now an asset not only to Mexico but to the whole world. However, about 20 more Afghan dreamers have not yet been rescued. Various organizations around the world are working hard to rescue them.
Meanwhile, the world's largest tech universities have become interested in offering scholarships to Afghan dreamers. But these little girls are left behind by their families, parents, country, relatives, for whom they dreamed one day. Has that dream really been shattered? Sitting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on August 21, Elizabeth Schaefer Brown, a board member of the Digital Citizen Fund, told NBC News that the girls were truly dreamers. I haven't heard anything negative about the Taliban or the war in their mouths, all that I have heard is a wonderful hope and dream story. With that dream, they want to stand with their head high again one day!
Author: Tanzina Hossain, Associate Professor, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Green Life Medical College, Dhaka
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