Sometimes, I Don’t Have Answers for Certain Questions 😢
- ALPA
- Feb 9
- 2 min read
by S*
It was a hot, sunny day ☀️, and I was going to teach an English course 📖. Teach in a place where girls' voices weren’t heard 🔇 and all were deprived of the right to study 🎓❌, except for young girls.
That day, the students in the class discussed the current situation of the country 🇦🇫, and their language changed from English to Dari. Finally, two groups formed, one side with the girls 👩🎓 and the other with the boys 👨🎓, and everyone took turns sharing their opinions.
Hafiz*, a young and playful boy in the class 😄, said,"Teacher! Girls don't need to study." 🤦♀️"I have three sisters. Two of them have already married 💍, and one of my younger sisters stays at home 🏡. Since the schools closed, she helps my mother with household chores, and these days she irons all my clothes and arranges them in my closet."
Seer and Yasra*, siblings, responded to Hafiz:"You are happy that your sister works at home, but I worry about my sister's future 😟. My mother is a teacher 👩🏫, and my father doesn't have a specific job. My sister Yasra was in seventh grade 7️⃣. But for a year now, she has been away from her studies, and this situation is worrying for us."
Mahdi and Zeinab*, also siblings, shared their story:*"We used to study in a public school 🏫, but I was in eighth grade and still couldn't read or write, so my father decided to send us to a private school. At the beginning of the year, we started attending the new school. Both my sister Zeinab and I were placed in sixth grade 6️⃣.
We both studied, and our teacher asked us about our goals 🎯. I want to become a pilot ✈️, but Zeinab wanted to become the president 👩💼. We wrote our goals on paper 📝 and posted them on the classroom wall.
But this year, we entered seventh grade, and Zeinab* no longer goes to school 😢. My father bought school supplies for both of us 🎒. Zeinab said,"I wish you hadn't bought them for me, Father. I'm done with school." 💔
With a lump in her throat, Zeinab* said,"I’m no longer pursuing my goal or studies; I now have to focus on household chores. After all, becoming the president requires a lot of studying, and you can't become a president by just completing sixth grade."
And I suggested that she share my goal:"I’ll study and teach you, my sister. I dream of becoming a pilot and flying with you among the clouds, soaring high towards the rainbow 🌈."
Yasra* said,"Teacher, I'm tired of this uncertain path. It’s been almost a year since I’ve attended courses, but one day, they close because of COVID 🦠! Another day, I can't study because I've grown up, and suddenly I'm vulnerable from every direction. Even today, it's uncertain when the religious police will come 🚔 and expel us from this course.”
Tears welled up in Yasra's eyes 😢, but none of us had an answer. With a lump in my throat, I left the class. We all had no answers for them anymore.
The names mentioned in the text are pseudonyms.
