Central Question: How does education continue to define and transform the lives of Afghan women as they move from restriction to exile?

Overview: This piece would be a three-part story that follows the role education plays for Afghan women at different points throughout the integration process (in Afghanistan and abroad). Each section will connect to the next, tracing how Afghans adapt at every stage. I would be looking at what education looks like now after the shut down, those who still want to leave, and those who are integrating to a new education system and life abroad. The article would explore not just what was lost, but how people are continuing to learn, teach, and integrate in different ways. 

  • Part One: This section would focus on the first wave of disruption. What does one do when you’ve built your identity around being an educated young woman, and suddenly it’s taken away? This section would look at what education means within the community and what this means for women trying to get an education abroad.
    • Interviews:
      • Female and male Bard Berlin students (3).
      • Mustafa Mayer — who completed his master’s and now works at the Brennan Center. 
      • A number of former teachers and journalists (who also have kids).
  • Part Two: The second section would look at people who still want to get out, or who continue their studies in secret either through underground networks, VPNs, or private lessons. This part explores how education survives, and what drives people to keep studying. 
    • Interviews:
      • An organization working in Afghanistan right now to help get people to Germany. 
      • The executive director of another organization that works on the ground in 19/34 Afghan provinces. They primarily implement programs in the country that center around youth leadership.
      • A man whose sister is still in Afghanistan learning from home.
  • Part Three: The final section explores what happens next: how do people rebuild their educational lives after leaving Afghanistan? How do they integrate into new academic systems, navigate language barriers, and redefine their sense of self as students and people in a foreign context? This part will tie the story together by also addressing the careers Afghans, especially Afghan women, are able to have.
    • Interviews:
      • 2 Afghan business owners who started off in very different places, but now own very successful companies.
      • Afghan Cultural Center that employees and helps integrate countless Afghans in the United States.
      • Afghan scholars that can speak to this integration process.