Afghan farmer Jahantab Ahmadi sits on the ground, her baby resting in her lap, as she focuses on the university entrance exam she hopes will help her fulfil her dreams.
The powerful photograph, taken by a professor at Nasir Khusraw private university in central Afghanistan, has gone viral after striking a chord in a country where most women are illiterate and treated as second-class citizens.
The picture has sparked an outpouring of admiration and offers of financial help for the 25-year-old mother of three.
Photo: AFP
“I don’t want to be deprived of my studies,” said Ahmadi, who comes from a remote farming village in Daikundi Province where wheat, corn and potatoes provide a meager income.
“I want to work outside the house. I want to become a doctor, someone who serves women in my community or society,” she told reporters in Kabul.
Ahmadi passed the exam after undertaking an arduous journey to reach the provincial capital Nili — two hours on foot through mountains and nine hours in public transport on a bumpy road.
An online GoFundMe campaign launched by the Afghan Youth Association to help pay for her university fees has so far raised more thanUS$14,000 — a fortune in a country where about 39 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Ahmadi appears a little bemused by the attention triggered by the photo of her cradling baby Khizran during the exam last month, which she only found out about later.
“My friends in the village told me ‘you have been photographed.’ I said: ‘How did I not know that I was being photographed? And they said: ‘You were concentrating on the paper,” she said, smiling shyly.
At the beginning of the test, which was held outdoors, Ahmadi sat at a desk with Khizran in her lap, but the infant had an earache and would not stop crying. To keep her quiet and not disturb others, Ahmadi sat on the ground in the shade of another person — and kept writing.
“I had to concentrate on the baby and do the paper,” she said.
Ahmadi’s story has resonated with social media users across the country, who have praised her determination to be educated.
“You are a true world champion, you have shown that a Hazara girl can do anything in any conditions or circumstances,” Nazar Hussein Akbari wrote on Facebook, referring to her ethnicity.
Another user posted: “I hope this hard-working woman reaches her goals.”
Women’s rights activist Zahra Yagana was also impressed. She contacted Ahmadi and convinced her to come to Kabul to study.
The family is now staying with Yagana while she helps Ahmadi get into a private university in Kabul.
“If she had to study in Daikundi, it would be difficult for her,” Yagana said at her apartment. “The standard of education is low. There is no student hostel in Daikundi and she would have to live in a rented house.”
“We will give her a house [in Kabul]. There are many friends who have promised to help her. We are trying to find a job for her husband and also raise money for her children to go to school,” Yagana said.
For Ahmadi, this would be the fulfilment of her dreams.
“My life goal was to get admitted into university,” said Ahmadi, who finished high school after she got married at the age of 18. “But due to our poor economic situation and poverty I could not afford to study for three or four years.”
“I don’t want to be left behind,” she said.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS