In a world where the doors of education are being closed one by one to girls, in a land where being a woman sometimes means silence and isolation, I, Fakhria Samandari, stand to tell the story of a woman who, out of suffering, created a mission; a woman who, in the heart of darkness, lit a lamp of hope for future generations.

The forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran is the most tragic and heartbreaking news we hear these days. Thousands of Afghans who had built their lives in Iran for years are now forced to leave their homes, jobs, and return to Afghanistan.

August 15 was not only the day our country surrendered to a terrorist group and our system collapsed, it was also the dark day when the dreams of millions of girls and women in Afghanistan were destroyed. It was the day the system fell, oppression and violence spread everywhere, and our country turned into a house of horror. Those whose hands were stained with the blood of thousands of innocents and who had no trace of humanity came to power.

Written by Arzo Gardizi, Human Rights Activist For three years now, we have been waking up each morning to the image of locked school gates, and going to sleep each night with the memory of the cries of “Bread, Work, Freedom” that once filled the streets.