Parween Dedarn is the only female teacher and headmaster at Kamp-e Farm Hada Girls’ High School in Afghanistan’ s conservative Nangarhar province.
A WOMAN’ S PLACE
by Hannah White
There is a saying in Afghanistan,“ Women should stay home or in the grave.”
This sentiment is a remnant of the Taliban-era, when women could be whipped in public for baring their ankles, lose a finger for painting their nails, or be thrown down a flight of stairs for hosting an informal school in their homes.
Although the Taliban regime was officially toppled in 2001, attitudes about a woman’ s place in Afghan society remain controversial. More conservative communities are enclaves for the old way of thinking. Jalalabad, in Afghanistan’ s eastern province of Nangarhar, is one of those places.
Home to more than 350,000 people in 2015, the city’ s population has tripled since 2006 and continues to grow as refugees from Pakistan return and displaced families flee surrounding villages. The influx of people has strained infrastructure, poverty is rampant, and women’ s rights are under siege.
On the front line of this battle for equality, is Kamp-e Farm Hada Girls’ High School. Its teachers and students fervently oppose the old ideology, and are actively working to replace the bigoted philosophy with a more egalitarian way of thinking.
At the forefront of this struggle is their fearless leader, Parween Dedarn.
LEADING THE CHARGE
The only female headmaster and teacher at the school, Parween is a visible symbol of the changing times. As a symbol and role model, she knows she has to swing big if she wants to make an impact.
“ If I could have one wish, it would be to educate the coming generation,” says Parween.
“ I hope to see my students take a positive part in rebuilding our destroyed Afghanistan.”
At 51 years of age, Parween has seen regimes rise and fall, her country torn apart by war, and an entire generation of hopeful men and women have education ripped from their hands.
Parween’ s own road is no easier than her country’ s. She has risen above countless obstacles to serve her community and get where she is today. She was married at age 15. Instead of staying home she finished school and graduated from college. For nearly two decades she has sacrificed her salary to get to and from school every day. Her meager earnings go toward gas or taxifare to travel the 35 minutes from her home to the school. She has also weathered constant threats and harassment from ignorant naysayers. Despite, and perhaps because of all this, Parween is more determined than ever to turn her country around. If Afghanistan hopes to save another generation from the fate of their parents, she says they must act now.
28 | JOURNEY OF HOPE CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE