first, Afghan couple with both the husband and wife as graduates of Afghan high school. It’ s really a very important event in the history of Afghanistan. My mom was one of the first six girls who graduated from high school for the first time.
Hannah: How did your mother and father meet?
Nasrine: Well, my mom was at that time in 10th or 11th grade and had problems in sciences – calculus, algebra, and physics— and my dad’ s Ph. D. was in physics and mathematics. So her brothers hired him to be her private tutor. And the way she reported it, they fell in love the first night. So that is kind of history. Yeah.
So my house as a result of these two marrying, we had the most educated of Kabul come to our house. They were not necessarily very wealthy people, but they were the most educated. So it was like a grandiose salon of beautiful ideas, of books, of progress. All these things that in the early 1950s, after the Second World War coming into being in the world. Extremely exciting. And with it, of course, all these ideals and aspirations for Afghanistan. My father was a teacher of course, a professor, and my mom was the first female member of parliament and the first director of the literacy program in Afghanistan. Nineteen seventy, I think she was the first director of it in the Ministry of Education. having something in the law and realizing actually that law? And so, I thought well one of the ways is for a grownup to actually learn how to read and write. So that they can not only read the constitution and become aware of their own rights, but that they could also help their children with their schooling. Without education you cannot make laws realized. You cannot make laws become reality of daily life. And so I couldn’ t do any other education, and besides the largest group, is the adults that are decision makers and they were 90 percent of women and 85 percent of men were illiterate. And to this day it’ s almost like that, but it’ s getting better. So that’ s why I did the couples. I thought if I do just women, most of the men are illiterate too. So in the household it may not be such an effective way. And so I said if I do only the husbands then the women will continue to be bypassed. So why not bring both of them? And I knew, another thing, that most Afghan men are not against education with their wives or their daughters or their children. And we’ ve never had any problems with them.
Hannah: How do you think the classes have changed the husbands and wives, and their relationships?
Nasrine: The couples say it, they say‘ before we used to fight. And now we don’ t have time to fight. We come home and we have to do our homework.’ Because you know what we do? We give only one textbook per couple. So they have to work with each other in order to finish their homework. And they also say that they know that fighting and quarrelling is not the way to solve a problem. Talking and writing are the way to go, and reading about something. It has really affected them very positively. They don’ t quarrel. They talk to each other and they develop better interests.
Hannah: Are there any challenges that are particularly difficult?
Nasrine: The other challenge is that we don’ t have [ a special needs ] education segment. I’ m sure among some of these people are dyslexic. You know they have dyslexia. Some don’ t hear very well and some cannot see very well. But these people are so afraid
“ Without education you cannot make laws realized. You cannot make laws become reality of daily life.”
Hannah: How did your upbringing impact your work later in life?
Nasrine: So when we were successful in putting the equality clause in article 22 of the constitution in 2003 and 2004, then I kind of sat back and said‘ OK Nasrine. You got the rights enshrined in the constitution. Now how do you make it happen? How do you make it part and parcel of life?’ Do you know, there is a big difference between
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