My story

I would not be where I am today without her selfless sacrifices. When I was growing up, she often chose not to go to the doctor when she was sick, knowing that the little money we had could instead cover my school fees or a new pair of shoes. Even when the doctor prescribed medication to be taken twice a day, she would take only one dose, trying to save the rest for the days when her condition became worse. Because she never had the chance to go to school and had no health ed

I was born in a small village in Ghazni, Afghanistan — a place where most girls never had the chance to go to school. My father passed away when I was one year old, and my mother — a woman who never had the opportunity to learn — raised me and my five siblings alone. She couldn’t read or write, but she understood that education was the only way to change a girl’s destiny. This is a picture of the village that I was born.