Film about family’s flight from Taliban and the importance of education wins Peabody Award |
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July 12th, 2007 - 01:03PM |
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Photo: The Adish family in their home in Charlottesville, Virginia / John Dolan Sahar Adish’s short documentary “Sahar: Before the Sun” tells the story of she and her family’s flight from Afghanistan and their struggle to establish a new life in the United States. Sahar now 19, made the film when she was a senior in high school in her adopted home town of Charlottesville, Virginia. This year the film won a prestigious Peabody Award. “The main message of my movie is the importance of education,” Sahar says. When I was in high school making this film I saw a lot of kids who took education for granted.” After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in1996, Sahar’s mother, Kamela, a chemistry teacher was barred from teaching and Sahar was expelled from school. Under the new regime, girls were forbidden to attend school. “We were in shock,” Kamela says. “To just stay home, for nothing. It didn't make any sense.” Kamela refused to accept Taliban’s decree. She began started secretly teaching her daughter and other neighborhood girls in her living room. They painted the windows black and drew the curtains to avoid detection. In August, 1998, the local Taliban found out about the illegal school. In retaliation a group of armed men burst into the house and seized Sahar’s father Naeem, a geologist. Naeem was released after a few days in jail. Bur after receiving threats of public execution, the family fled Kabul for the Pakistan border. In Pakistan, they joined millions of other Afghan refugees living in camps along Afghan border. The family applied for refugee status with the United Nations and after a two year wait they were accepted for resettlement in the U.S. In 2002, the IRC resettled them in Charlottesville. There, Sahar and her brothers were finally free to pursue an education. Within days of arriving in Virginia, all the Adish children were enrolled in school. Even with a language barrier, their transition was made easier thanks to the academic skills their parents had made such sacrifices to give them. Sahar is now a premedical student at the University of Virginia. She plans to become a doctor and return to Afghanistan where she can use her skills to help her people. Her brothers are all in graduate school. Kamela plans to return to teaching and Naeem hopes to find work again as a geologist. To see “Sahar: Behind the Sun,” click here Posted By: theirc | Refugees in the U.S. Permalink |
