Celebrating International Women’s Day: The Girls of Sola
Women and girls are being murdered, tortured, and disappeared in Iran for demonstrating against the death of one of their own. Here at home, women have had control of their bodies wrested from them by the Supreme Court. In a world so seemingly upended, is there anywhere we can go to celebrate International Women’s Day?
Yes. There are many small miracles to celebrate, some taking place in the most unlikely places. Rwanda, for example, where they know all about the horrors of genocide, has become a haven for the girls of Sola.
I didn’t expect to be as touched as I was by this jewel of a report by Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes. It’s not only the bravery of the young woman who decided to take it upon heself to educate the next generation of female leaders in Afghanistan. Nor is it only the courage it took to extricate every one of her students from Afghanistan when the Taliban took over after the disastrous withdrawal of the US. Stories of getting the girls to the airport under Taliban surveillance, and onto the last planes out, are hair-raising. Nor is it her prescience in being sure that it was only time before the Taliban would do what they’ve now done.
Girls are not to be educated beyond the 6th grade. Women in responsible jobs are now to stay at home and send husbands and brothers in to do the jobs they were never trained for. Nor is it only the courage, in the face of fear and grief and loss, of the parents determined to give their daughters a chance at freedom and happiness, who sent their female children away, to a place they’d perhaps never heard of, for what might be forever. As a father and grandfather of beloved girls, I wonder whether I would have had the courage to make such a decision.
I hope so.
Thankfully, I’ll never have to find out.
One would like to believe that these girls, in their lovely uniforms and face coverings decorated in the way of Rwandan fabrics, presumably as a way to honor their hosts, can freely roam the streets of Kigali. But the generosity of the Rwandan people who have welcomed this school for girls with open hearts doesn’t guarantee the school safety from the reach of the Taliban.
One can only hope.
What touched me most deeply—and what would make me most willing to send my own children away under similar circumstances—is the determination of each girl to make a difference in the world. They understand the privilege of freedom better than most. According to this report, they speak with their families in Afghanistan weekly. They understand and appreciate the sacrifices their parents have made.
The joy in their eyes as they describe what it’s like to live in a community of free women is inspiring. What’s not stated but is self-evident is the contrast between their good fortune and the fates of their mothers and sisters left behind, trapped by a primitive worldview that deems women less in every way.
We live in a world where medical advances have made gender truly fluid, and in a country where we have the luxury to debate the nature of sexuality, gender and gender roles. Too often, in our privileged world, we allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
On International Women’s Day, the girls of Sola—and those who are left behind—are at two extremes of the spectrum. We should never lose sight of how fortunate we are to be where we are on that spectrum, regardless of how far we still have to go.
You can watch the report here: https://cbsn.ws/48rlImC