The Taliban kept her out of class for 2 years. Today, she’s studying at an elite private school in Vancouver | CBC News

Marweh Attai, 18, was sitting in her Grade 11 math class in 2021 when she saw the end of her life as she knew it draw near.

Attai heard gunfire and, when she looked out the window, saw explosions. 

“We knew that this is going to end pretty soon, and these schools are going to be shut, and we’re gonna be imprisoned in our houses pretty soon,” Attai told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.

That was May 2021. Three months later, the Taliban took power and shut down schools for girls and restricted the rights of women. 

Earlier this year, the Taliban confirmed it will ban women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan because they offered services forbidden by Islam. 

The ruling was the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.

“Imagine you wake up one day, and you can’t go to school anymore. You cannot work. You can’t even leave the house without a male family member,” Attai said.

“I felt truly helpless. It’s just very hard being at home, having your hopes crushed. You know your future is stolen.”

‘Transformative journey’

Today, Attai is one of 13 Afghan women scholars who have successfully completed their first full year of education in B.C. 

They are here with the support of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization that advocates for Afghan women and girls’ education and empowerment.

“These courageous individuals were denied the right to education due to their gender, but through the support of WLOT, they have embarked on a transformative journey toward a brighter future,” the organization said in a written statement.

Attai recently completed Grade 11 at Crofton House, an elite private school in Vancouver. She will stay there for Grade 12 and hopes to complete her post-secondary education in B.C. 

‘Hard and unacceptable’

Habiba Nazari, 24, is also in Vancouver, studying interdisciplinary applied science at the University of British Columbia. She also spoke with The Early Edition.

Nazari completed her bachelor’s degree in 2019 and was working with different organizations supporting women’s rights. 

She left for Kazakhstan five days before the Taliban took over. 

“The day I heard that the Taliban took the capital of Afghanistan, all I was thinking was about the women,” she said. 

“The woman’s situation in Afghanistan is pretty hard and unacceptable for us.”

WATCH |  Nazari speaks with Canada Tonight in 2022 about the ban on women’s higher education in her home country: 

Ottawa urged to act after Taliban shuts women out of higher education

Canada Tonight’s Dwight Drummond speaks to Habiba Nazari, an Afghan student in Canada, about the ban on women’s higher education in her home country and her worries for her sisters who are studying there. (December 22, 2022)

In Kazakhstan, Nazari studied geology for a year. But when she wasn’t able to renew her visa, she faced the prospect of having to return to Afghanistan. 

However, she was able to connect with Women Leaders of Tomorrow and was granted a scholarship to study at UBC. 

“I’m not just thinking about myself,” she said. 

“I have the opportunity that I can continue my education for my longer goal of continuing to help other Afghan girls as well.”

Both young women say adjusting to life in Canada has been hard.

Attai says the language and cultural barriers she faced were difficult to overcome, especially after being away from school for two years. 

Having left her mother and brother behind, Attai says she suffers from survivor’s guilt. 

But she says she’s proud to be able to continue her education in B.C., and she hopes to fight for women’s rights in the future.

“It’s a universal problem. Today, it’s Afghanistan. Tomorrow, it could be any other country.”