Fatima Hadari for Students for Humanity. A battle. An history.
Pride. Struggle. These are only a few terms used to describe the story of Fatima Hadari, a student at Bocconi University, and much more. Guest of the latest event of the Students For Humanity association, Fatima told us (and moved) us with details about a past, which, unfortunately, is more alive than ever.
Afghanistan. A landlocked state. A country that also lacks hope, unfortunately. The story of Fatima begins in Afghanistan, more precisely among the high peaks of this land. At seven years old she is a shepherdess. Raised to be a woman. In the worst sense that could exist, the one in which education, self-affirmation and the desire to fight are just ghosts of a future already written.
So, against all odds, Fatima begins to study secretly, listening in silence to the lessons of the boys.
10 years old. Fatima moves to Herat. A new Eden, in which “even women were allowed to study” – however, the costs of education are unsustainable for her family. But the desire to learn and know goes beyond any obstacle. As a matter of fact, Fatima starts selling artifacts in local shops, with the only purpose of buying books and notebooks, with the aim of learning something.
Only after three years, she decides to enroll in a private school to learn English, as quickly as possible. But the story of redemption doesn’t end there. Fatima quickly becomes a language assistant. However, her dream is to study journalism and start writing. But Fatima’s ambition is not just a personal ambition, but a collective one: “Sun Girls” is the name of the association that Fatima founded in Herat, for which she works tirelessly with other girls to give refugee girls a chance to learn, providing the basis for proper schooling.
What is striking, however, is the love for her country, that does not end and does not run out, even if her is aware of how it is perceived from the outside as negative, narrow-minded and bigoted land. So, Fatima developes her passion for showing the beauties of Afghanistan on social media every day, until she is hired by tourists who desire the wonders of her country, becoming the first woman in the history of her country to be a tour guide. Pride and the desire to learn become increasingly stronger.
The desire for Fatima transcends any individualistic logic. It is the redemption of the female figure, in her country, but also in the world. The female stereotype of mother and housewife is rooted in history, but continues to live too often in the present. But it’s never too late to start changing the world.
But many dreams often end up turning into nightmares. The Taliban take power in Afghanistan. For its ethnic minority, the Hazara-Shiite one is the end. Persecutions. Atrocities. A real genocide. From here begins the escape of Fatima, an epic lived between fear and terror.
People were killed and injured. Deafening noises and bullets. The Taliban ready to attack from everywhere. But a military flight manages to bring Fatima and other girls to Italy.
Today Fatima Haidari studies at Bocconi. A story of redemption but made of so much bitterness and awareness. The feeling of being a refugee. The lack of affection, not to chase a dream, like many students of our university, but to escape from persecution. The story of Fatima teaches us to reflect. To evaluate. To empathize. And we couldn’t be more grateful.
