Sakena Yacoobi: How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
Sakena Yacoobi: Como impedi os talibãs de fecharem a minha escola
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.
In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
contra o maldito Satã. Em nome de Alá.
in a middle class family.
when he lost his father,
a boy or a girl:
um rapaz ou uma rapariga.
what I went through.
quando criança.
para o cemitério.
finished my high school,
to help women and children.
mulheres e crianças.
there wasn't a dormitory for girls,
não havia dormitório para raparigas,
but I could not go there.
mas não pude ir para lá.
sent me to America.
I was completing my education,
em que eu estava a acabar o curso,
with my family or with my country.
com a minha família nem com o meu país.
I didn't know about it.
e eu não sabia de nada.
num campo de refugiados.
when I listened to the news,
going on with my country,
o que se passava no meu país,
I could not go there,
to the refugee camp in Pakistan,
no Paquistão,
were women and children.
or they were in war.
ou estavam na guerra.
have no way to go anywhere,
de ir para nenhum lado,
no place to even live.
sem sítio para viver.
their father and their home,
os pais e a casa,
as a 10-to-12-year old boy --
eram os chefes de família
and their mother and their children.
a irmã, a mãe e os filhos dela.
what can I do for these people?
"O que posso fazer por esta gente?"
What can I do for them?
O que é que posso fazer por eles?"
Deu-me estatuto.
It gave me a career.
is education and health,
educação e saúde.
was banned for girls, completely.
estava totalmente proibido às raparigas.
o Afeganistão,
"I want to do this."
"Quero fazer isto".
the trust in this community.
a confiança da comunidade.
observei e observei.
que eu posso ser professor?"
I can be a teacher?"
"I will make you a teacher."
"Eu farei de ti um professor".
in his compound,
no complexo dele,
a frequentar a escola
we were giving teacher training.
e fazíamos formação de professores.
human rights, democracy, rule of law.
os direitos das mulheres,
a democracia, o direito da lei.
in Peshawar, Pakistan.
em Pexauar , no Paquistão.
running to rooms and locking the doors
a entrar nas salas a correr,
Sabemos que é perigoso.
you have to hold it together.
temos que nos aguentar.
and show strength.
e mostrar força.
into my office.
o meu gabinete.
nine of them -- nine Taliban.
you can ever see.
que possam imaginar.
to have a seat and have tea.
e tomarem chá.
going to drink tea.
of voice they were using,
que estavam a empregar,
you know how I dress --
como é que eu me vestia.
eram os meus olhos.
"O que é que anda a fazer?
is banned for girls?
está proibida à raparigas?
Where is the school?"
"You are teaching girls here."
Koran, Holy Book.
o Livro Sagrado.
if you learn the Holy Book, the woman,
se aprenderem o Livro Sagrado,
and you know --
they started speaking Pashto.
eles começaram a falar pastó.
leave her alone, she's OK."
I offered them tea again,
poured into my office.
entrou no gabinete.
que não me tinham matado.
they didn't take me away.
que não me tinham levado.
também estava feliz por estar viva.
to be alive, of course.
training during the fall of the Taliban --
durante a queda dos talibãs
there is another story.
a história foi outra,
education for 80 schoolgirls,
e demos aulas a 80 alunas,
and continuously we trained.
e continuámos sempre com a formação.
we went into the country,
fomos para a província
para mulheres.
that you can imagine.
que possam imaginar.
with the outcome of my work.
com os resultados do meu trabalho.
and one bodyguard,
e um guarda-costas,
they blocked the road.
a bloquear a estrada.
"O que é que se passa?"
"We have nothing to do with you."
"Não queremos nada contigo",
They said, "We want her."
Disseram: "É a ela que queremos".
"I can answer you.
"Eu posso responder.
Chamaram pelo meu nome.
are yelling and screaming inside the car.
aos gritos dentro do carro.
and I told myself, this is it.
vamos ser todas mortas".
and you take strength
arranjamos forças
and whatever you do.
e naquilo que fazemos.
and you can walk on it.
e ela sustenta-nos.
on the side of the car.
mas saí e perguntei-lhes:
opportunity to have a job.
de elas arranjarem um emprego.
Então e nós?"
"I don't know."
que sabemos fazer,
we just hold the gun and kill.
é agarrar na espingarda e matar.
They said, "We'll let you go, go."
I sit in the car,
sentei-me e disse ao condutor:
"Turn around and go back to the office."
para o escritório".
were supporting girls.
para a formação de mulheres,
Não havia lá ninguém.
tinha desaparecido totalmente.
sentei-me à secretária, e disse:
going on up north already.
a decorrer lá no norte.
coming to get training.
a receber formação.
all of a sudden, at this moment,
naquele momento
called me about a report.
e perguntou-me:
And I answered her.
What's wrong with you?"
"Não estás bem. O que é que aconteceu?"
she didn't believe me,
ela não acreditou
you go next time, and you will help them.
"Ok, para a próxima vais lá e ajuda-os.
I went the same route,
voltei pelo mesmo caminho,
and holding the rifle
de espingardas na mão
para pararmos o carro.
that whatever I say, you accept it."
O que quer que vejam, aceitam-no".
in the mountain areas,
na zona montanhosa
They are ahead, and we go.
e nós atrás deles.
transforms people.
transforma as pessoas.
para a igualdade dos sexos.
but forget about the men,
e esquecer os homens,
who are giving women the hardest time.
que mais dificultam a vida das mulheres.
because the men should know
a dar formação aos homens,
can do the same job they are doing.
fazer o mesmo trabalho que eles fazem.
training to men,
a dar formação aos homens,
that was a beautiful country.
out of their door without security issues.
sem problemas de segurança.
Afghanistan we had before.
de antigamente.
are working very, very hard.
estão a trabalhar muitíssimo.
They are training to be lawyers.
Estão a estudar para advogadas.
doctors, back again.
médicas, de novo.
reach their complete potential,
atingirem o seu potencial,
you can conquer the world.
conquistar o mundo inteiro.
can do it in any part of the world.
podem fazê-lo em qualquer parte do 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