Neatly lined up two by two, little girls arrive on time for class in Afghanistan. However, the school is prohibited by the Taliban. Hamida Aman, founder of Radio Begum, opened a clandestine school within her radio. The schoolgirls, who are between 12 and 16 years old, come from the neighborhood. The general courses they follow are broadcast on Radio Begum, and the program is very popular.
The schoolgirls, despite the fear, are eager to learn. “For us, it’s obvious, even if we don’t have the right”, entrusts one of them, before collapsing. Their dream, to become a doctor, a judge or to work in commerce, becomes more and more inaccessible every day. “Impossible to predict here. It could be war overnight”, says a student. All agreed to speak, despite the pain. They want to be heard and understood, beyond their country.
The daily life of the young women who work at Radio Begum has also been turned upside down, as the Taliban are implementing vertical segregation. Hamida Aman had to adapt, installing curtains. However, the strict separation is not respected everywhere: upstairs, a journalist is preparing an interview with an editor.
If girls are allowed in universities, again, strict rules are in place. “When the teacher teaches, he does it on the boys’ side. (…) We do not matter”, laments a student. Their male comrades don’t like the situation either. “It’s important to be able to talk with the girls, share their problems, their ideas, the lessons. I suffer from these conditions”, says a young man. Despite everything, the students have no intention of leaving their country. “We prefer a bad situation here to a better one abroad”, says one of them. They now have only one hope: that the international community comes to their aid.