Sakena Yacoobi: How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
Sakena Yacoobi: Cómo impedí que los talibanes cerraran mi escuela
At the Afghan Institute of Learning, Sakena Yacoobi provides teacher training to Afghan women, supporting education for girls and boys throughout the country. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
del maldito Satanás.
In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
el Misericordioso.
in a middle class family.
Nací en una familia de clase media.
when he lost his father,
cuando perdió a su padre,
a boy or a girl:
cinco de nosotros estamos vivos.
what I went through.
por lo que pasé.
finished my high school,
mi escuela secundaria,
to help women and children.
a las mujeres y los niños.
there wasn't a dormitory for girls,
no había dormitorios para niñas,
but I could not go there.
de medicina, pero no podía ir.
sent me to America.
I was completing my education,
estaba terminando mi educación,
with my family or with my country.
con mi familia o con mi país.
I didn't know about it.
que no sabía nada al respecto.
en un campo de refugiados.
como terminé mi educación,
cuando escuchaba las noticias,
when I listened to the news,
going on with my country,
pasando con mi país,
I could not go there,
sabía que no podía ir allí,
to the refugee camp in Pakistan,
de refugiados en Pakistán,
were women and children.
or they were in war.
o estaban en la guerra.
que nunca hubiera imaginado.
have no way to go anywhere,
no place to even live.
ni siquiera un lugar para vivir.
their father and their home,
su padre y su hogar,
as a 10-to-12-year old boy --
siendo niños de 10 a 12 años
and their mother and their children.
y su madre y sus hijos.
what can I do for these people?
¿qué puedo hacer por estas personas?
What can I do for them?
¿Qué puedo hacer yo por ellos?
It gave me a career.
is education and health,
era educación y salud,
was banned for girls, completely.
prohibida para las niñas, por completo.
la invasión de Rusia a Afganistán,
"I want to do this."
"Quiero hacer esto".
Por supuesto que no.
the trust in this community.
confianza en esta comunidad.
en el campamento,
I can be a teacher?"
que puedo ser maestro?".
"I will make you a teacher."
in his compound,
una clase en su recinto,
we were giving teacher training.
trabajo, formábamos al profesorado.
human rights, democracy, rule of law.
derechos humanos,
in Peshawar, Pakistan.
en Peshawar, Pakistán.
running to rooms and locking the doors
a las habitaciones y cerrando las puertas
you have to hold it together.
tiene que mantenerlo unido.
and show strength.
y mostrar fuerza.
into my office.
invadiendo mi oficina.
nine of them -- nine Taliban.
you can ever see.
que se puedan ver.
to have a seat and have tea.
going to drink tea.
of voice they were using,
que estaban utilizando,
you know how I dress --
ya saben cómo me visto...
en un hiyab negro.
is banned for girls?
está prohibida para las niñas?
Where is the school?"
¿Dónde está la escuela?"
"You are teaching girls here."
"Usted está enseñando niñas aquí".
Koran, Holy Book.
el Libro Sagrado.
if you learn the Holy Book, the woman,
estudia el Libro Sagrado, la mujer,
and you know --
con esas personas...
they started speaking Pashto.
comenzaron a hablar pashto.
leave her alone, she's OK."
ella está bien".
I offered them tea again,
poured into my office.
mi personal viene a mi oficina.
they didn't take me away.
to be alive, of course.
de estar viva, por supuesto.
training during the fall of the Taliban --
durante la caída de los talibanes...
there is another story.
era otra historia.
education for 80 schoolgirls,
educación a 80 alumnas,
and continuously we trained.
y continuamente los educábamos.
we went into the country,
entramos en el país,
para mujeres.
that you can imagine.
que puedan imaginar.
with the outcome of my work.
con el resultado de mi trabajo.
and one bodyguard,
y un guardaespaldas,
they blocked the road.
bloquearon el camino.
"¿Qué está pasando?".
"We have nothing to do with you."
Dijeron: "No tiene que ver con usted".
They said, "We want her."
Dijeron: "Nosotros la queremos".
"I can answer you.
"Yo puedo responderles.
Me llamaron por mi nombre.
are yelling and screaming inside the car.
gritando y gritando dentro del coche.
and I told myself, this is it.
esto es todo.
and you take strength
y se toma fuerza
and whatever you do.
and you can walk on it.
y se puede caminar sobre ello.
on the side of the car.
"¿Qué puedo hacer por Uds.?".
al norte, aquí y allá.
opportunity to have a job.
de tener un trabajo.
¿Qué hay de nosotros?".
"I don't know."
lo que sabemos,
we just hold the gun and kill.
tenemos un arma y matamos.
They said, "We'll let you go, go."
Dicen: "La vamos a dejar ir".
I sit in the car,
me siento en el coche,
"Turn around and go back to the office."
"De la vuelta y regrese a la oficina".
were supporting girls.
solo apoyábamos niñas.
para entrenar mujeres,
se habían ido.
y me senté en mi mesa,
going on up north already.
pasando al norte.
coming to get training.
para capacitarse.
all of a sudden, at this moment,
y de repente, en ese momento,
called me about a report.
me llamó acerca de un informe.
And I answered her.
"¿Sakena?" Y yo le contesté.
What's wrong with you?"
she didn't believe me,
ella no me creía,
you go next time, and you will help them.
la próxima vez, ayúdales.
I went the same route,
fui por la misma ruta,
and holding the rifle
y sosteniendo el rifle
that whatever I say, you accept it."
que todo lo que digo, lo aceptan".
in the mountain areas,
nosotros en las zonas montañosas,
They are ahead, and we go.
Ellos van adelante vamos.
transforms people.
transforma a las personas.
por la igualdad de género.
but forget about the men,
y olvidar a los hombres,
who are giving women the hardest time.
sus momento más difíciles.
because the men should know
porque los hombres deben conocer
can do the same job they are doing.
haciendo, lo pueden hacer las mujeres
training to men,
formación a los hombres,
that was a beautiful country.
recibiendo educación:
out of their door without security issues.
sin problemas de seguridad.
Afghanistan we had before.
que teníamos antes.
are working very, very hard.
están trabajando muy, muy duro.
They are training to be lawyers.
Están estudiando para ser abogadas.
doctors, back again.
para ser médicas, otra vez.
reach their complete potential,
alcanzar su total potencial,
you can conquer the world.
can do it in any part of the world.
parte del mundo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sakena Yacoobi - Education activistAt the Afghan Institute of Learning, Sakena Yacoobi provides teacher training to Afghan women, supporting education for girls and boys throughout the country.
Why you should listen
Sakena Yacoobi is executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an Afghan women-led NGO she founded in 1995. After the Taliban closed girls’ schools in the 1990s, AIL supported 80 underground home schools for 3,000 girls in Afghanistan. Now, under Yacoobi’s leadership, AIL works at the grassroots level to empower women and bring education and health services to poor women and girls in rural and urban areas, serving hundreds of thousands of women and children a year through its training programs, Learning Centers, schools and clinics in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yacoobi is the founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, the Professor Sakena Yacoobi Private Hospital in Herat, the Professor Sakena Yacoobi Private High Schools in Kabul and the radio station Meraj in her hometown of Herat, Afghanistan.
Sakena Yacoobi | Speaker | TED.com