Afghan students feel Qatar is the gateway of better life

Three girls from the Afghanistan’s only all-girls robotics team who have been studying at Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Education City are leaving Doha as they start their higher education journey, having been accepted at universities in North America.They feel that Qatar has been the gate way for better life as one of them - Somaya Faruqi, said: “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say, Qatar has been the gateway to a better life and future for us.” The nine member Afghan robotics team, according to a story on QF website, has been studying at Education City since August 2021 after being evacuated from their homeland. “Happy and sad” is the common theme for the girls as they describe how they feel about leaving Qatar to go to university. “Happy because going to university means we are one step closer to our dreams,” said 20-year-old Faruqi, who is going to the Missouri University of Science and Technology to study Mechanical Engineering.“Sad because it means saying goodbye to Qatar – a country that became our home in what was the most difficult time of our lives.”Faruqi said their year spent at Education City has undoubtedly been a turning point in their educational journey. “It allowed us to overcome one massive barrier – language,” she said.“Back home, the only time we used English was during our language class, whereas here everything was taught in English. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but we quickly caught up. We feel so much more confident about going to university now thanks to the drastic improvement in our English language over the past year.”According to Ayda Haydarpour, the girls also received support beyond school, particularly when they were applying for university. “Truth is, I didn’t even know how to apply to university, what forms to fill and where to find them,” said the student, who will now be pursuing computer science at Virginia Tech.Having left Afghanistan overnight, the girls were unable to bring their school transcripts or any other academic documents, but that did not get in the way of their education.“Despite not having our transcripts, QF allowed us to enrol in their schools while we waited for our transcripts and as soon as we got them, we were moved to the Academic Bridge Programme,” said Sadaf Hamidy, who is headed to Queens University in Canada to study Biology."We will forever be grateful that despite everything, our education was never compromised, in fact, if anything it was accelerated.”In their time at Education City, the girls have made many memories and even more friends. Living in QF’s student housing gave them the unique opportunity to form close bonds with people from several different nationalities and cultures, which they say was an incredible experience. “It has taught us to become more tolerant and respect other cultures and beliefs even if they are very different from ours,” said Hamidy.The girls say they will never forget how warmly they were welcomed, not just by teachers but also by students as well as the Education City housing community, which helped them settle in much faster than they expected.“We were never made to feel like refugees or even referred to as refugees,” Haydarpour said. “Instead, we were ‘scholarship holders’. To many this might seem like a small thing but for us, it helped us stay positive.”Among their most memorable experiences at Education City, are participating in The FIRST Global Challenge - an annual robotics competition – and attending football matches, particularly one match where they met David Beckham.All three girls have big dreams, all of which include going back to Afghanistan and working on providing better opportunities for women. Faruqi plans on setting up the country’s first STEM focused school; Hamidy plans on setting up a tech company, and Haydarpour wants to return with a doctorate in medicine so she can contribute to improving health services in the country and eventually open up her own hospital.