Growing Afghan women with Code To Inspire

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2023-05-30 12:00:04

One of the Taliban’s first moves was to replace the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. As a result, Afghanistan became the only country in the world to ban women from secondary education. In December 2022, the ban was extended to universities.

Gradually, women also lost their right to leave home unaccompanied, making it increasingly difficult for them to hold jobs. With the workforce cut in half, and combined with international isolation, an exodus of professionals, and other factors, the poverty rate soared from 47% to 97%.

As I spoke with women from local NGOs, I tried to picture myself in their shoes. How would my life as a software engineer be if I lived in this world? Day-to-day life would be incredibly oppressive. Could I maybe work from home in order to provide for my family? Could remote software engineering be an ideal career path for Afghan women? This led me to discover Code to Inspire, a trailblazing NGO.

Code to Inspire teaches Afghan women to code. Their projects include creating games like “Afghan Hero Girl”, when an Afghan girl fights a wizards’ minions to free her family. Fereshteh, the Founder, suggested giving opportunities to their students was the best way to help, so I scheduled interviews.

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