CAI HERO: My science teacher Tooba

by Murzia

My name is Murzia and I am a student at Ghazi High School in Kabul. I was born in 1998 in Jalozai refugee camp, Pakistan, where my father lived for 18 years.

When we have returned to our beloved country Afghanistan, I was 5 years old. We lived in our village, Loman, for three years where I started going to school, then we moved to Kabul and now I am in grade 8 at Ghazi High School.

I love my school and teachers. My favorite teacher is Tooba Kakar. She is 43 and she has a son and a daughter. She graduated from Teacher Training College. She has good behavior and is very kind and tries to understand all students fairly; however it is very difficult for a mother to have young children and job.

I was born in low-class family, so I proud that my father is educated and loves education. But my mother is uneducated. When I have known as a girl about my family and tribe, there was no chance for girls to get education, so I was disappointed about my life that I thought my family would not let me to go to school as well.

But I was wrong. My father was not like our relatives and tribes. He let me and my other two sisters and four brothers to go school to get education. So I am very lucky. My father receives threats from our close relatives and Taliban because of supporting girls’ education, but he ignores them all.

My dream is to become a journalist to help Afghan poor people and raise the voice of Afghan women in the world.

*Details have been changed to protect the individuals mentioned in the story.