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Afghan women seek to level IT playing field with Hood's graduate program [The Frederick News-Post, Md.](Frederick News-Post (MD) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 12--For Aria Kazim and Maryam Faiz, Hood College's information technology program offers what they rarely had as undergraduates at Kabul University: real hardware, actual software. "This device looks like this and it can do this thing," Faiz said she was told in her course work in Afghanistan, "but we did not do anything practically." The two arrived in the U.S. in August as the first recipients of a scholarship for Afghan women pursuing graduate studies at Hood. The Allemall Foundation and Susan Whaley, a 1974 alumna and college trustee, established the Afghan Women's Scholarship fund with the Afghan Friends Network in 2012. It provides for two years of graduate courses in biomedical science, environmental biology or computer science. For Kazim, 27, and Faiz, 23, studying in America is a way to make strides toward greater women's rights in their home country. Faiz worked in information technology with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Afghanistan and found few women in her field. When she earned her bachelor's degree in computer science, her colleagues "were so proud of me," she said. "They said, 'You have to continue.'" The history of Afghan education is as rocky as its politics. In a country that has rarely known stability since the early 1800s, the education system was all but eliminated and schooling for women increasingly devalued. Girls were almost completely excluded from formal education under Taliban rule beginning in the 1990s. More than 2.5 million Afghan girls now attend primary school after millions of U.S. dollars were used to rebuild their educational institutions. More than 120,000 young women finished secondary school and 40,000 were working on university degrees as of July 2013, USAID reported last year. Faiz and Kazim both plan to return to Afghanistan and work with network systems for government agencies. "They think girls cannot do this, especially in government," Faiz said. "I want to show them I can do whatever you are." Neither had been to the U.S. before embarking on a 26-hour trip from Kabul to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Washington. Kazim thought she knew what to expect after talking to co-workers and watching movies set in America, but "seeing things with your own eyes is so different." "You feel you are free when you go around at night by yourself," she said, a luxury not afforded on Afghan streets. The two are adjusting to more rigorous schooling, new accents and coed friendships, and everyday life like jogging and tennis. At some point, they hope to connect with Afghan leadership organizations around the U.S. and serve as ambassadors for their country's next generation. A master's degree is only the beginning. "I should start teaching girls computers," Faiz said. "Help people get to know these things." Follow Rachel S. Karas on Twitter: @rachelkaras. Know of someone who would make a good Slice of Life? Email your suggestion to [email protected] or call 301-662-1178 and ask for a city editor. ___ (c)2014 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) Visit The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) at www.fredericknewspost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |