Ella takes in the city lights. Courtesy photo

Nedah chats with Steve Greene. Courtesy photo

BY SUSIE AND BOB FUSELIER
Los Alamos

During my high school years, and after I had informed my folks of my intention to become a veterinarian, my dad would often emphasize the need for me to always continue my education. For someone facing another eight or so years of education to obtain my degree, that seemed unnecessary. But that was my dad’s educational motto: whether you’re going to be a tradesman or a college graduate, never stop learning.

While there seems to be a growing deemphasis on the need for education in our country today, the National Lab’s influence in our town requires a highly educated populace. Meeting the changing demands of our world today and finding those interested in achieving the education needed to meet those demands, whether that need is a degree in physics or one of the trades, is a critical part of LANL’s existence and future.

LANL’s need for the best and brightest attracts people from all over the world. It’s missions often require collaboration with those across the globe. To help fulfill its needs, LANL has employed many former international students who had studied in the US under F1 student visas. While we are officially considered a rural town by our government’s standards, we are a rural town with international connections and international influence. More so than many communities, Los Alamosans have a great understanding of the scientific problems, and their associated social concerns, that face the US and the world today.

In 2005, around the time my daughter was in college and my sons were in high school, two girls, Ella and Nedah, were born to families living in Afghanistan, one in the city of Kabul and the other near Lashkar Gah. Their families believed in women’s education. They had dreams for their daughters.

About the time the two young girls were entering first grade, I became involved in a project that connected students in Lashkar Gah with students at Los Alamos High School. A year later, as part of my role in the project, I visited the capital of Kabul, then went to Lashkar Gah to attend the school’s graduation. While I thought then there was a chance that I’d continue to keep in contact with one or more teachers or students in the program, I could have no idea that I’d eventually be involved in the educational dreams of a young girl from each of the cities I visited. Yet, here we are.

The girls thrived in an Afghanistan that promoted education for women because of the support of an Afghan government that believed in women’s equality. For these two girls, going to school was as normal as it was for a young girl in America; it was their right. And, just like young American girls, they dreamed.

Unfortunately, that government fell in August of 2021, sending hundreds of thousands of young women who had been on a journey to achieve a higher education into the seclusion of their homes with little chance of fulfilling their hopes and dreams. To seek a higher education was now considered illegal, with severe repercussions taken against those (and their families) who were found disobeying the law.

Ella and Nedah were lucky. Their families still believed in their right to be educated and took on considerable risk in order to support them as they strived to fulfill their dreams of a higher education. They studied through underground schools, which were in constant risk of being exposed and were often discovered and closed.

Not long ago, Ella and Nedah were able to escape Afghanistan to Pakistan where they took and passed the required F1 Student Visa interview that would allow them to come to the United States as high school students. Fortunately for them, New Mexico allows any student who has graduated from a New Mexican high school or passed the GED requirement and has been a resident of the state for a year the opportunity to qualify for the NM Legislature Lottery Scholarship, which pays for up to eight semesters of tuition.

Unfortunately for Ella and Nedah, the nonprofit that helped them come to the US is no longer able to provide the financial support they need, leaving them without the funds needed to pay for their dormitory, meal plan, and living expenses. Because F1 Student Visa holders must remain enrolled in approved colleges but, at the same time, are extremely limited in their ability to work, Ella and Nedah must count on the generosity of others to stay in school.

Neither girl wants to be dependent on others for their education. They both want to work, but until they can get a work-study job on their college campus, they are legally forbidden to work. Even then, a campus job cannot pay the costs of room, board, and daily living expenses that even a frugal college student incurs. Without financial support, they will lose their visa status and be forced to leave the US. At this time, an Afghan woman with a US visa on her passport faces horrific consequences upon returning to Afghanistan. Leaving here is not a viable option.

I asked Nedah and Ella to share their hopes and dreams.

Nedah:
Education was taken from me, but my determination was not. I am Nedah, an Afghan student who, like many Afghan girls, was forced to leave my country when we were banned from attending school.

Despite the challenges of starting over, I remain committed to continue building my future through education. I am now working toward studying computer science at the University of New Mexico. My goal is to use technology to create solutions that improve lives and expand opportunities, especially for girls and children.

Ella:
I am a dedicated person who believes education can change lives. This is Ella, one of the countless Afghan girls who are being banned from attending school. After facing many hardships and leaving my home country, I am currently working hard toward building a better future through education.

My goal is to attend the University of New Mexico and become a cardiologist so I can help save lives.

Recently, Susie and I invited a small group of friends to a presentation by Ella and Nedah. Knowing that the current Afghan government would punish their families if their identities were discovered, we kept the invitation private and small. While we’ve all faced difficulties in our lives, their stories of their struggles left me thankful mine were in no way as grave.

Steve Greene, a retired physicist at LANL, shared his thoughts after meeting Ella and Nedah:

Two young ladies made the case for the rest of their lives today. We heard somewhat of the challenges, often dire, they and their families have faced in Afghanistan as they grew up and tried to become educated and contributing members of their society. Finally, a brutal sectarian movement caused them to flee, with their family’s blessings and the help of strangers and foreigners, to the United States of America. Here they are trying to move on and obtain the education they have so strived for. They need our help to go on because the charitable funding streams that got them this far are failing.

But more than this story of fleeing persecution, we met two keen and curious minds possessing strength of will and a passion to succeed. I met with them individually. They have become fluent in English and determined to learn the ways of life in the US. They are modest and personable. One would like to pursue engineering and computer sciences and the other medicine. During my career at universities and Los Alamos I have dealt with numerous students, from high school seniors to college undergraduate and graduate students. The successful ones all exhibited the basic traits these two young ladies have shown. Getting these two settled at UNM in Albuquerque with their expenses covered to live and concentrate on studies is a very worthy cause and deserving of our philanthropy.

Judy Nekimken, a retired LAHS teacher, was also present. She added:

I was mesmerized by the determination of both Ella and Nedah. As I reflected on the words they each spoke, “I want to be somebody”, I was reminded of the many students I encountered during my 33 years teaching math at LAHS who often sat in the back of the room, trying not to be noticed by the teacher or peers. These are the kids who touched my heart strings. While outwardly they didn’t want to be noticed, I knew they needed someone who cared about their well-being. At the end of the year, or sometimes years later, I heard from a few of them. They thanked me for my belief in them, for nurturing their interests. 

Similarly, these two girls want to learn but in their cases are hindered by politics and consequently financial reasons. They have dreams. These dreams are exactly what teachers and many other adults who help to model and shape the future of a young person latch onto. I urge others to do what they can to help them to achieve their dreams. Together we can help them realize their dream of an education.

At the heart of all those who succeed against the strongest of obstacles lay beliefs that provide the courage and stamina to continue in spite of those difficulties. Ella mentioned in her presentation a hope taught to her by her parents, one echoed by Nedah as well.

“When you are surrounded by darkness, become the light.” Education is the light that brings freedom and illuminates possibilities.

Hoping to find additional people who understand the needs that America has for students such as Ella and Nedah and who understand the difficult obstacles they both face, we decided to bring their stories public with the hope of finding the financial support they will need to stay in the US over the initial four-year course of their college education. To protect them, the names we use here are not their real names and the photos that accompany this article intentionally hide their faces.

If you’re interested in becoming part of Ella’s and Nedah’s educational journey, please contact Bob at fuselierbob@gmail.com to discuss how you can help. Donations are tax- deductible.

Thank you,
Susie and Bob Fuselier