Sakena Yacoobi: How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
سكينة يعقوبي: كيف تمكنت من منع طالبان من إغلاق مدرستي
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.
بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
in a middle class family.
when he lost his father,
عندما توفّي والده،
a boy or a girl:
what I went through.
مررت بها كطفلة.
المقبرة.
finished my high school,
أكملت مرحلة الثانوية،
to help women and children.
لأساعد النساء والأطفال.
there wasn't a dormitory for girls,
مهجع للطالبات في بلدي
but I could not go there.
ولكن لم أتمكن من الذهاب إلى هناك.
sent me to America.
I was completing my education,
الذي كنت أكمل فيه دراستي،
with my family or with my country.
مع عائلتي أو بلدي.
I didn't know about it.
when I listened to the news,
عندما استمع إلى الأخبار،
going on with my country,
يحدث مع بلدي،
I could not go there,
أنه لا يمكنني الذهاب إلى هناك،
to the refugee camp in Pakistan,
في باكستان،
were women and children.
تقريباً.
or they were in war.
أو مازالوا يحاربون
have no way to go anywhere,
أو وسيلة لتذهب إلى أي مكان،
no place to even live.
مكان تعيش فيه.
their father and their home,
as a 10-to-12-year old boy --
في 10- 12 من العمر--
والمسؤولين عنها،
and their mother and their children.
وأمهاتهم وأطفالهم.
الدافعة والعزيمة.
what can I do for these people?
ما الذي يمكنني فعله لهؤلاء الأشخاص؟
What can I do for them?
ما الذي يمكنني أن أفعله لهم؟
It gave me a career.
قدم لي مهنة.
is education and health,
هو التعليم والصحة،
was banned for girls, completely.
محظورا على الفتيات، بشكل تامٍّ.
"I want to do this."
"أريد القيام بهذا الأمر."
the trust in this community.
وبحثت وبحثت.
I can be a teacher?"
يمكنني أن أصبح معلما؟"
"I will make you a teacher."
"سأجعلك معلما."
in his compound,
we were giving teacher training.
قدمنا تدريبا للمعلمين.
human rights, democracy, rule of law.
وحقوق الإنسان والديمقراطية وسيادة القانون.
in Peshawar, Pakistan.
في بيشاور، باكستان.
running to rooms and locking the doors
باتجاه الغرف ويغلقون الأبواب
you have to hold it together.
and show strength.
والتظاهر بالقوة.
into my office.
nine of them -- nine Taliban.
تسعة أشخاص من طالبان.
you can ever see.
في حياتكم.
to have a seat and have tea.
going to drink tea.
of voice they were using,
كانوا يتحدثون بها،
you know how I dress --
تعرفون كيف كان لباسي
من الرأس إلى أخمص القدمين.
هو عينيّ
is banned for girls?
محظورة على الفتيات؟
Where is the school?"
أين هذه المدرسة؟"
"You are teaching girls here."
" إنك تقومين بتعليم الفتيات هنا"
"هذا منزل أحدهم.
Koran, Holy Book.
للمسلمين.
if you learn the Holy Book, the woman,
إذا علّمنا النساء تعاليم القرآن
and you know --
مع هؤلاء الناس كما تعلمون
they started speaking Pashto.
leave her alone, she's OK."
وشأنها، فهي لا تشكل خطرا."
I offered them tea again,
عرضت عليهم الشاي للمرة الثانية
poured into my office.
بااتدفق إلى مكتبي.
they didn't take me away.
to be alive, of course.
لأنني على قيد الحياة، بالطبع.
لأنني لازلت حيّة.
training during the fall of the Taliban --
خلال فترة سقوط طالبان--
there is another story.
حدثت أثناء حركة طالبان.
education for 80 schoolgirls,
80 تلميذةً،
and continuously we trained.
وواصلنا تقديم التدريب.
we went into the country,
الصحة الإنجابية.
that you can imagine.
التي يمكنكم تخيلها.
with the outcome of my work.
بنتائج عملي.
and one bodyguard,
وحارسٍ شخصيٍّ واحد،
they blocked the road.
والبنادق على أكتافهم،
"ما الذي يحدث؟"
"We have nothing to do with you."
"ليس لك دخلٌ في هذا الأمر."
They said, "We want her."
وقالوا، "نريدها هي."
"I can answer you.
"يمكنني أن أجيبكم.
ونادوا اسمي.
are yelling and screaming inside the car.
داخل السيارة.
and I told myself, this is it.
أن الوقت قد حان.
and you take strength
التي يجب أن تستجمع فيها قوتك
and whatever you do.
تقوم به.
and you can walk on it.
on the side of the car.
السيارة.
غادرت السيارة.
هنا وهناك.
opportunity to have a job.
وظيفةٍ.
فماذا عنا؟"
"I don't know."
ونعرفه،
we just hold the gun and kill.
بالبندقية وإطلاق النار منها للقتل.
They said, "We'll let you go, go."
فقالوا لي، "سوف نترككِ تذهبين، ارحلي."
I sit in the car,
"Turn around and go back to the office."
"استدر ولنعد إلى المكتب."
were supporting girls.
بدعم الفتيات.
لم يبقى أحدٌ هناك.
كان موجودا،
going on up north already.
قد بدأت بالفعل.
coming to get training.
التدريب.
all of a sudden, at this moment,
وفجأة، في تلك اللحظة،
called me about a report.
من أجل الحصول على تقريرٍ.
And I answered her.
فأجبتها.
What's wrong with you?"
ما الذي أصابك؟"
حاولت إخفاء ما حدث.
she didn't believe me,
you go next time, and you will help them.
عندما تذهبين مرة أخرى، ساعديهم.
I went the same route,
عندما سلكت نفس الطريق،
and holding the rifle
ويحمل كل واحد منهم بندقية
that whatever I say, you accept it."
أن تقبلوا كل ما أقوله لكم."
in the mountain areas,
They are ahead, and we go.
ونحن نتبعهم.
transforms people.
المساواة بين الجنسين.
but forget about the men,
وننسى الرجال،
who are giving women the hardest time.
الذي يجعل النساء يمررن بأصعب الأوقات.
because the men should know
يجب أن يعرفوا
can do the same job they are doing.
الذي يقوم به الرجال.
training to men,
that was a beautiful country.
out of their door without security issues.
منازلهم بدون أن يواجهوا مشكلاتٍ أمنية.
Afghanistan we had before.
كانت لدينا.
are working very, very hard.
بجدٍّ.
They are training to be lawyers.
يتدربن ليصبحن محامياتٍ.
doctors, back again.
reach their complete potential,
يصلون لأقصى إمكانياتهم،
you can conquer the world.
can do it in any part of the world.
مكان من العالم القيام بذلك.
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