Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a Vancouver-based advocacy, has so far provided 28 Afghan women with scholarships in B.C.
Bahara Ahmadi — a bright, inquisitive young teen when the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in 2021 — arrived in B.C. on Aug. 28, along with three other young women fleeing religious oppression.
“I was in Grade 8 and suddenly I couldn’t go to school anymore,” the 18-year-old said from Victoria.
“I couldn’t see my future stuck inside a house, and I decided to get out of Afghanistan.”
Even before the new religious code, females could not attend secondary schools, universities, public parks, even hair salons, nor could they work most jobs (they can study to become a midwife, or go to religion school).
Now they are prohibited from raising their voices, as well as banned from reciting the Qur’an in public.
They may not look at a man who is not a relative, and their faces must be fully covered.
“They are being very sneaky and gradual,” Friba Rezayee said. “They are issuing edicts every other month to restrict the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan as much as possible.”
Especially now, she added, with the world’s attention on Gaza, Ukraine and Iran.
“The Taliban have just declared war against women.”
Like Ahmadi, who is studying at St. Margaret’s, a private girls school in Victoria, the 28 girls and women WLOT have sponsored to study and take part in sports learned most of their English online.
Born and raised in Kabul, Rezayee made history when she competed in judo in the 2004 Athens Olympics as Afghanistan’s first female athlete.
She moved to Vancouver in 2011.
“It’s extremely difficult to get out today,” Rezayee said.
There is much deceit and danger to sneak a young woman out of Afghanistan.
Females must be accompanied to a border crossing or airport by a male guardian, usually a father or brother.
But Ahmadi’s father had no passport and her brother was younger than her. So she pretended to belong to another family, crossed into Iran, got a visa for Pakistan because the Canadian Embassy in Iran isn’t open, and then got her Canadian visa.
The advocacy group WLOT, which is funded by donation, says five students who graduated from high school in June secured post-secondary scholarships.
Rezayee, who has spoken at the UN about Afghan women’s rights, said she’s been vocal about women’s rights since she was five years old. She said judo was not only her chosen sport, it was also a movement for women’s and human rights.
“Because it was becoming very dangerous for me to continue my advocacy, my lifestyle, and practice freedom in Afghanistan, I left,” she said, arriving in Vancouver in 2011.
It’s young women such as Ahmadi who give Rezayee hope.
She sees their love of learning, how enthusiastic they are, how resourceful.
“They are very smart, they are going to be the leaders of tomorrow,” she said. “They are going to lead Afghanistan in a better way, they are going to bring freedom.”
Judo lessons are part of the program, too.
Women Leader of Tomorrow relies on donations from family foundations and members of the public. Rezayee doesn’t want the world to forget about Afghan girls.
“The situation in Afghanistan is dire,” she said. “It’s worse than we think, actually.
“Each one of these young girls from Afghanistan deserves access to education and access to sport.”
During her online judo classes for girls and women back in Afghanistan — Sunday mornings here, 12 hours later on Sunday evening there — their faces light up she said.
“They’re so resourceful, they take any opportunity they have to practice online.
“When the Taliban shut down their schools, they studied online. They trained themselves to speak English.”
Ahmadi, grateful for her scholarship and opportunity, already has plans to return to Afghanistan once her education in Canada is complete.
“I’m thinking every single day about the other girls who are still in Afghanistan,” she said.
“Education is important for me, and educating other girls in Afghanistan is also very important to me.”