Zahra is one of the hundreds of carpet weavers who have been weaving carpets since childhood. I find her in her usual room, where the sound of the hook and the loom is always loud, and Zahra, as always, holds threads of various colors in her hands and weaves a carpet with beautiful patterns. She cuts wool threads with her fingers and ties another knot after each cut. Tirelessly, she strives to finish a carpet to pay for her school fees and help her elderly father support their family of nine.
She is pursuing literacy, and her ultimate desire is to be liberated from the loom and become literate because her family opposed her education from childhood. Now, having spent precious years of her life behind the loom, she is determined to pursue knowledge. She says, “My only wish was to be able to read and write because my family didn’t allow me to go to school when I was a child. At that time, my peers were all going to school and studying while I was weaving carpets and watching them. Seeing them made me sad and upset.”
Zahra has also ventured into handicrafts such as embroidery alongside carpet weaving, aiming to continue her education with the money she earns. Despite the limitations imposed on women by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Zahra has not lost hope and strives to one day achieve her dreams through education. Reflecting on her early days of literacy classes, she says, “A friend of mine, who was also illiterate, came to my house and informed me about literacy classes. Hearing her words made me very happy like a ray of light had appeared to me to escape from the darkness of my mind. The next day, I enrolled in the literacy class. I will never forget that at first, I couldn’t even hold a pen. Holding a pencil was difficult for me. The teacher would take my hand and teach me how to write. I would repeat the words after the teacher’s loud voice.”
Her eagerness for education led her to attend Quranic school alongside literacy classes, aiming to learn the Quran. She shines brightly in every session of the school and achieves numerous successes. In a short time, she has managed to memorize most of the Quranic verses, participated in various competitions, and achieved success. She speaks of her relentless efforts, saying, “I participated in various competitions and received certificates, books, and Qurans from various institutions. During this time, I also gained the support of my family. My family and teachers encouraged me, and after a while, I completed my literacy course.”
Zahra was determined to continue her studies when the Taliban seized power and deprived all girls of education. Schools and all educational centers were closed to girls, and she became housebound once again. Alongside forgetting her dreams, she also forgot the pen and book she had recently acquired. Amidst all the chaos caused by the Taliban, various rumors circulated about girls being taken as war spoils, which worried Zahra and her family more than anything else. She recalls, “My mother was distressed day and night because of these rumors, losing sleep at night. My parents had to send me with my brother to my grandparents’ house in the village. I spent some time in the village and had forgotten everything. When we returned home, the situation had improved, and I was thrilled, especially when some Quranic schools and a few educational centers reopened. The dream of going to school has always remained in my heart since the Taliban did not reopen the schools. I decided to attend a religious school alongside the Quranic school.”
The sole reason motivating Zahra to attend the religious school is her refusal to forget her dreams; she fears losing the path she had struggled to find and remaining forever deprived of going to school. She continues her religious studies, but this time, the news of girls being arrested by the Taliban under the pretext of hijab becomes a major obstacle in her path. Her family opposes her attending the religious school, and once again, she spends some time housebound behind the loom. After much effort, she has recently managed to convince her family to let her study, and now she goes to a madrasa alongside carpet weaving. She wants the Taliban rule to end as soon as possible so that instead of the religious school, she can attend a regular school and pursue her dreams.