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Monday
Feb022009

The bravery of Afghanistan's female students

Girls are being terrorized in Afghanistan for going to school: Ms. Husseini is a student at the Mirwais School for Girls outside Kandahar. Two months ago, as she was walking to school with her sister, a man on a motorcycle sprayed her with acid, burning her face and eyelids. Fourteen other students and teachers were attacked that day in an attempt to shut down the school. The attempt failed - today, nearly all of the wounded girls are back at the Mirwais School for Girls, including even Shamsia, whose face was so badly burned that she had to be sent abroad for treatment. Perhaps even more remarkable, nearly every other female student in this deeply conservative community has returned as well - about 1,300 in all.

Building new schools and ensuring that children - and especially girls - attend has been one of the main objectives of the government and the nations that have contributed to Afghanistan's reconstruction.

There's a great New York Times article and photo slide show with these and other photos by Danfung Dennis which you can view by clicking here.

DateFebruary 2, 2009 | AuthorJoseph O'Reilly | Comments Off |

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