Sakena Yacoobi: How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
סקנה יקובי: איך עצרתי את הטאליבן מלסגור את בית ספרי
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.
בשמו של אללה, רב החסד, הרחמן מכולם.
in a middle class family.
when he lost his father,
a boy or a girl:
what I went through.
finished my high school,
to help women and children.
לנשים ולילדים.
there wasn't a dormitory for girls,
but I could not go there.
אבל לא יכולתי ללמוד שם.
sent me to America.
I was completing my education,
with my family or with my country.
I didn't know about it.
when I listened to the news,
going on with my country,
I could not go there,
to the refugee camp in Pakistan,
were women and children.
or they were in war.
have no way to go anywhere,
no place to even live.
אפילו בלי מקום לחיות בו.
their father and their home,
שאיבדו את אביהם ואת ביתם,
as a 10-to-12-year old boy --
כילדים בני 10-12 -
and their mother and their children.
what can I do for these people?
מה אני יכולה לעשות עבור אנשים אלה?
What can I do for them?
מה אני יכולה לעשות עבורם?
It gave me a career.
היא נתנה לי קריירה.
is education and health,
was banned for girls, completely.
לחלוטין.
"I want to do this."
the trust in this community.
את האמון שלהם בקהילה.
I can be a teacher?"
איך את חושבת שאני יכול להיות מורה?"
"I will make you a teacher."
"אני אעשה ממך מורה."
in his compound,
we were giving teacher training.
העברנו הכשרות למורים.
human rights, democracy, rule of law.
דמוקרטיה, שלטון החוק.
in Peshawar, Pakistan.
running to rooms and locking the doors
ונועל את הדלתות
you have to hold it together.
and show strength.
into my office.
nine of them -- nine Taliban.
תשעה אנשי טליבאן.
you can ever see.
to have a seat and have tea.
going to drink tea.
of voice they were using,
you know how I dress --
is banned for girls?
Where is the school?"
איפה בית ספר?"
"You are teaching girls here."
"את מלמדת כאן בנות."
Koran, Holy Book.
if you learn the Holy Book, the woman,
הספר הקדוש, אז הנשים,
and you know --
ואתם יודעים -
they started speaking Pashto.
הם התחילו לדבר פשטו (שפה איראנית).
leave her alone, she's OK."
היא בסדר."
I offered them tea again,
הצעתי להם תה שוב,
poured into my office.
they didn't take me away.
to be alive, of course.
training during the fall of the Taliban --
בזמן נפילת הטליבאן -
there is another story.
זה היה סיפור אחר.
education for 80 schoolgirls,
לשמונים תלמידות,
and continuously we trained.
ולימדנו ללא הפסקה.
we went into the country,
that you can imagine.
שאתם יכולים לדמיין.
with the outcome of my work.
הייתי מרוצה מתוצאות עבודתי.
and one bodyguard,
they blocked the road.
הם חסמו את הכביש.
"We have nothing to do with you."
"אין לנו עסק איתך."
They said, "We want her."
הם אמרו, "אנחנו רוצים אותה."
"I can answer you.
"אני יכול לענות לכם.
are yelling and screaming inside the car.
and I told myself, this is it.
ואמרתי לעצמי, זהו זה.
and you take strength
ואת אוזרת כוח
and whatever you do.
ומכל מה שאת עושה.
and you can walk on it.
ואת יכולה ללכת על זה.
on the side of the car.
opportunity to have a job.
"I don't know."
"אני לא יודעת."
מה שאנו יודעים,
we just hold the gun and kill.
אנו רק מחזיקים נשק והורגים.
They said, "We'll let you go, go."
הם אמרו, "ניתן לך ללכת, לכי."
I sit in the car,
"Turn around and go back to the office."
"הסתובב וסע חזרה למשרד."
were supporting girls.
going on up north already.
coming to get training.
all of a sudden, at this moment,
called me about a report.
בהקשר לדו"ח.
And I answered her.
עניתי לה.
What's wrong with you?"
she didn't believe me,
היא לא האמינה לי,
you go next time, and you will help them.
בפעם הבאה תלכי ותעזרי להם.
I went the same route,
הייתי באותה דרך,
and holding the rifle
מחזיקים את נשקיהם
that whatever I say, you accept it."
לא משנה מה אגיד, אתם תסכימו."
in the mountain areas,
They are ahead, and we go.
הם מקדימה, ואנחנו הולכים.
transforms people.
but forget about the men,
who are giving women the hardest time.
שעושים לנשים את החיים הכי קשים.
because the men should know
כי גברים צריכים לדעת
can do the same job they are doing.
אותה עבודה שהם עושים.
training to men,
that was a beautiful country.
out of their door without security issues.
בלי ענייני ביטחון.
Afghanistan we had before.
are working very, very hard.
They are training to be lawyers.
הן עוברות הכשרה בעריכת דין.
doctors, back again.
reach their complete potential,
הפוטנציאל המלא שלהם,
you can conquer the world.
אפשר לכבוש את העולם.
can do it in any part of the world.
בכל חלק שהוא בעולם.
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