On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss the new memoir, Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education, which tells the story of Sola Mahfouz, a young woman who fights to secretly educate herself under Taliban rule.
Sola Mahfouz taught herself math and English online for years, eventually escaping to the United States, where she is now a quantum computing researcher at Tufts University.
Later in the show, we’ll discuss the current state of women’s rights under Taliban control.
Guests:
Sola Mahfouz, Afghan activist, quantum computing researcher at Tufts University Quantum Information Group, and co-author of Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education
Malaina Kapoor, student at Stanford University, founder of Women in National Security, and co-author of Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education
Ali Latifi, freelance journalist based in Kabul, Afghanistan
Web Resources:
WBUR: Sola Mahfouz's 'Defiant Dreams' take her from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to Tufts University
TuftsNow: Determined and Undeterred: A Young Afghan Woman Educated Herself Against the Odds
The New Humanitarian: Afghan women divided on what hope to take from key Taliban figure’s rare TV interview
The New Humanitarian: Is the EU doing enough to protect Afghans escaping the Taliban?
