When the U.S. withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2022, the country went into freefall. The Taliban took over; as a result, Afghan women were suddenly banned from pursuing higher education. In its wake, some are taking huge risks to attend American colleges.
That’s the case for two women at the University of Lynchburg, who worked with English instructor Alissa Keith to make arrangements to study in the U.S.
The effort, first cobbled together by Keith last year, aims to help Afghan women overcome financial, legal and safety barriers that stand in their way of coming to study. She first got involved when she volunteered to advise Afghan women on their college essays.
That’s when Keith came across an essay by Shukria, who wrote about surviving a terrorist attack. Her school bus arrived late one morning, and when she got there, she saw her school explode. Shukria is a pseudonym, used to protect her and her family’s safety from the Taliban.
“As I was reading her essays, I just was like, ‘You know what, I really want to help her more than just the essay process,’” Keith said. “I have access to higher education. I have access to all of these things that I’ve taken for granted as a woman who loves education in the United States. I was like, ‘I really would like for her to have the same opportunities.’”
Seven months later, Shukria would attend her first classes at the University of Lynchburg. She’s studying to be a brain surgeon, Keith said, and plans to return to Afghanistan to serve her community when she’s finished with college. Shukria wasn’t available for an interview with Cardinal News.
Rachel Willis, also an English instructor at the University of Lynchburg, provides Keith with logistical and moral support. The cause is important to her, Willis said, because when the U.S. left Afghanistan and the Taliban took over so quickly, many people were “left behind.”
“I think this is sort of our one small chance, here locally in Lynchburg … to give people back some of their lives,” Willis said.
To do that, Shukria and Keith spent seven months navigating all kinds of hurdles. Through the help of friends, nonprofits and the community, they found tuition scholarships, volunteers to provide room and board, nonprofits that manage the legal requirements and visa applications, and arrangements for Shukria’s safe transportation to the U.S.
Keith contacted colleges all over the country, trying to find one that could offer a scholarship on most or all of Shukria’s tuition. That was hard to find, Keith said; but when she asked the higher-ups at the University of Lynchburg, they were happy to help.
Similarly, Keith struggled to find room and board, which would cost about $15,000 per year for Shukria’s four years of college. After much trial and error, Keith discovered she had a friend who’d recently bought a house specifically to host asylum seekers and refugees. Shukria is neither, but she still fit the bill.
Keith also enlisted the help of nonprofits, like the Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund, to guide Shukria through the long legal process. The nonprofit handled Shukria’s visa application and paperwork, but because there’s no U.S. embassy in Afghanistan, Shukria had to travel to Pakistan to obtain her visa.
“It was honestly almost a surprise that it actually happened,” Keith said. “There were so many hurdles that it wasn’t until she was on that final nonstop flight from Doha to D.C. that I was like, ‘She’s actually going to get here.’”
Almost as soon as Shukria made it to the U.S. last summer, one of her friends contacted Keith for help in that same process. This friend, who uses the name B* for her safety, is also a survivor of a terrorist attack and came to the University of Lynchburg to study public health.
“At that point, I knew just how many hurdles there were,” Keith said. “It’s really hard to be optimistic when I know one little thing can go wrong and this is over.”
But Keith took on her case, and “by some miracle,” she did it all again. B* started classes this spring.
Keith said both women are doing as much as they can in the U.S. — not just school, but extracurriculars like running and art, too.
“Both of them are like, ‘Give us the hardest classes you have, we just want to learn,’ which is wonderful,” Keith said. “I think when you take something for granted, you don’t realize what a privilege it is to have access to higher education. These women are here and just so excited to have the freedom to take as many classes as they can.”
Now, Keith is continuing her effort with two more women — both of whom are actively being searched for by the Taliban. One of their visas has been approved as of early May, Keith said, but they’re still waiting on the other. Because the visa rejection rate is about 50 percent, she’s unsure whether the other woman will make it in time for summer classes.
Keith and Willis plan to keep helping Afghan women come study in the U.S., whether it’s at their university or not. They established a fund at the University of Lynchburg, where people can donate to help secure tuition, room and board, transportation and other needs for these students. They also accept non-cash donations like clothes and groceries.
“[We want] community support to come around these women and allow them to live the life that they’ve dreamed of, which for us is just regular life,” Keith said.
This effort is a chance to help from afar, Keith said. Although people are often moved to do something when they see news from Afghanistan, Ukraine or elsewhere in the world, they may not know how.
“I want to help the women of Afghanistan, but what do I even do? I’m here in Lynchburg,” Keith said. “This has been an opportunity to feel like you can help in a small way, and it’s small to us, but it’s really big for these women.”
