English.aljazeera.net
The Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls who go to schools in their Afghan strongholds.
A series of attacks against schools and female students have driven many girls to go underground to receive an education.
In one attack in Kandahar in 2008, around 15 girls and teachers were sprayed with acid by men on motorbikes.
Acid Attacks on Women Going To School in Afghanistan
During Taliban rule, from 1996-2001, girls were banned from attending school.
In parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan, particularly in Taliban strongholds, schools for girls still remain closed.
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid visited one secret school for girls in Kandahar and sent this report.
Secret School For Brave Afghani Girls
Sakena Yacoobi–Afghani Institute of Learning
Sakena Yacoobi received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for her work with women and children in Afghanistan. In this short interview, she tells Global X how fundamental an impact education is having on women.
She remembers the day she sat with 300 students (“All women!”) to celebrate their graduation. Even though Sakena Yacoobi was with two men (her body guard and her manager), the women kept talking freely and didn’t even try to hide their faces as is the custom in front of men who are not close relatives.
She was so proud: “How much they have learned –they are now independent, self-sufficient, earning income, proud of themselves, famous!”
Sakena Yacoobi’s advice: “I listen to lots of stories –the women who share them are crying, they are weeping. But what I have learned is that rush, rush, rush is not going to work. You may save a life by listening.”
The Islamic Workplace 
Posted on June 5, 2010
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