The planetary robotics competition, held successful the US successful 2017, was a accidental for the squad to amusement to the satellite what truthful galore successful their ain state doubted -- that girls tin execute anything.
And execute they did, winning an grant for "courageous achievement" fixed to teams who persevere done trying circumstances. Though they didn't spot among the world's champion teams successful the wide score, they walked distant arrogant and, crucially, with worldwide recognition.
It was that designation that helped the girls flight Afghanistan a fewer months ago, arsenic the Taliban resurged.
The Taliban -- infamous for banning girls from schoolhouse and enactment when they past controlled Afghanistan -- swept backmost crossed the state this summer, toppling metropolis aft city, a terrifying alteration for educated, progressive girls similar those connected the robotics team.
"The Taliban were taking implicit villages and neighboring provinces and truthful we decided to permission Afghanistan," said Kawsar Roshan, 1 of the team's members. "At that time, our families weren't adjacent allowing america to permission the location for immoderate reason, not adjacent to spell to classes."
With the assistance of assorted humanitarian groups worldwide, five of the archetypal squad members were capable to fly Afghanistan.
They near unneurotic with 1 older comparative arsenic a guardian and made the hard trek from the occidental Afghan metropolis of Herat to the superior of Kabul, leaving their homes successful July.
There, they managed to get 1 of the past commercialized flights retired of Kabul bound from Islamabad, Pakistan.
It was successful Pakistan that a program began to signifier that yet led them to a state thousands of miles distant -- Mexico.
With the assistance of backstage backing from assorted humanitarian assistance groups, they made their mode from Pakistan to Doha, Qatar, wherever aft an invitation came from the Mexican government, the radical boarded a commercialized flight, stopping successful Frankfurt, Germany earlier landing successful Mexico City.
The authorities present has authorized the girls, each 17 oregon 18 years old, to enactment for astatine slightest six months, with the enactment of extending their clip further.
Some of the squad spoke to CNN successful a edifice league room, preferring not to talk from wherever they are staying successful the metropolis for information concerns.
Fittingly, immoderate of the archetypal thoughts they shared were astir home, criticizing the cruelty of the Taliban regime.
"The regularisation of their authorities is conscionable mockery, an insult to Islam," said Fatemah Qaderyan, an archetypal squad member. "Islam is the religion of kindness. We kindly petition not lone the United States but the full community, but the full planetary assemblage to eradicate the Taliban procreation from Afghanistan."
They cognize that the US has constricted options successful that respect aft its withdrawal successful August. They besides cognize however fortunate they were to get out.
"It was truly hard to, you know, permission our beloved ones successful Afghanistan," said Saghar Salehi, different squad member. "But we are blessed that contiguous we are harmless not lone due to the fact that of ourselves, but present we tin beryllium the dependable of thousands of girls who privation to beryllium harmless successful Afghanistan and who privation to proceed their acquisition and tin marque their dreams travel true."
That is simply a a dwindling world for girls successful that country. In the weeks and months aft the Taliban took over, their actions person reaffirmed a instrumentality to a nine wherever women are treated arsenic wholly unequal to men.
The radical has ordered precocious schools to unfastened lone for boys, claiming that girls request a "secure proscription system" earlier returning. Militants person successful immoderate instances ordered women to permission their workplaces, and erstwhile a radical of women protested the announcement of the all-male authorities successful Kabul, Taliban fighters bushed them with whips and sticks.
Still, the squad has a connection for those near behind.
"My connection to my procreation is that to delight don't suffer your hope," said Roshan. "I cognize it's hard due to the fact that I'm an Afghan girl, too, and I afloat recognize you. But delight don't suffer your spirit, determination is ever airy successful acheronian and conscionable marque your imagination and travel your imagination and judge that 1 time your imagination volition travel true, due to the fact that I experienced that.
Despite the challenging circumstances of the past respective months, each young pistillate is looking to the aboriginal and hopes to spell to assemblage adjacent twelvemonth determination successful the United States. Unsurprisingly, they volition each prosecute careers successful STEM fields.
In the long-term, they each said that 1 time they anticipation to beryllium capable to spell backmost to an Afghanistan escaped of the Taliban and the repression they represent.
English (US) ·