Afghanistan, Free to Run: women and the dream of a race no longer granted

They are Zeinab and Zahra, two young Afghan students who – after the conquest of Kabul by the Taliban – they left the country to pursue a dream: to complete their education. Both accepted with Fulbright scholarships in the universities of the United States – where they now live – but always with an eye to the motherland: Afghanistan. Country where they started running, motivated by other women from Free to Runand in which they rediscovered the desire to reaffirm their rights

WATCH THE VIDEO: Afghanistan, one year after the return of the Taliban: three Afghans who fled to Italy speak

For Zahra the dream of helping improve the lives of women in Afghanistan begins with education. The first woman in her family to graduate, Zahra graduated in Business and Economics from the University of Kabul and discovered Free to Run at a time when she was looking for new stimuli and new sources of inspiration. Running has given her a new perspectiveputting her in contact with others and helping her to explore the world around her

Afghanistan a year later: what has changed since the return of the Taliban

Zeinab instead she was studying at the American University of Kabul when she met two girls who were training for an ultra-marathon with Free to Run and joined the program in 2017. Engaged in her studies and in a job that would help her financially, Free to Run sessions represent for her a source of motivation and an encouragement to get out of the comfort zone. Zeinab was thus able to face more marathons e he found the strength to challenge societytrying to change the perception of what women can do in her country

Diary from Kabul, the courage of Afghan journalists

Free to Run, this is the name of the non-profit organization founded in 2014 by Canadian ultrarunner Stephanie Case and documentary of the same name later made by The North Face just inspired by its history. The company supported and followed the athlete on his trip to Afghanistan and presented Zeinab and Zahra to the world, in the days before the Taliban conquered the capital, and then – unexpectedly – told about their escape to the United States.

Afghanistan, 1 million children at work for 50 cents a day

Free to run. A name that is also a mission. Stephanie Case she is, in fact, a human rights activist and lawyer who has always been committed to protecting women’s freedom. “The way it is Free to Run work is to work directly with the community and with parents so that they can understand what it means to go out and run outdoors – explains Stephanie – We look for safe ways to get women out of the house and involve them in outdoor activities ”

Kabul, women’s rights today one year after the return of the Taliban

“I don’t know what pushed me, it’s something that has always been inside of me,” Stephanie tells us when we ask her what motivated her to take this path. “It is a must. It was never really a choice. For us, running is a form of exercise, but for the girls and women of Free to Run – in the areas where we operate – it’s an opportunity to have access to a new kind of life “

Kabul, the apparent calm of a city on its knees

It is to help women to create a new life that Stephanie left for Afghanistan, just before that August 15, 2021 which changed the fate of the country she told us about: “In a state like Afghanistan – afflicted by conflicts for a long time – the risks to be faced by going out for a run or doing outdoor activities are much higher than in a country like Italy or Canada, my native country. It takes a lot of courage to try something new. To try to do something different and face any criticism ”

“Kabul the year after”: the special of Sky TG24

Running, playing sports or climbing a mountain is never easy for any woman, but even more so for those who live in countries like Afghanistan – dominated by a patriarchal society. To explain this gender gap Stephanie appeals to memory and tells us an episode from her past. “I had an accident in the Italian mountains years ago and one of the reactions I got was not ‘are you okay?’, But ‘you shouldn’t have gone into the mountains alone”

“Free to Run”, the documentary dedicated to the Afghan runners Zeinab and Zahra

“We are subject to a type of critical look to which men are not subjected. And this has an impact on our ability to access sports. As if the outside world wasn’t a place for us, as it is for them. When the women train on their own there is always the possibility that they will suffer uprooting and negative judgment, but unfortunately it is something that women have to face a little around the world. It only happens in a more extreme form in conflict zones ”

And precisely in Afghanistan this form of gender discrimination gets stronger and stronger. “Since the Taliban took power, women have been very limited, in terms of what work they can do, in how they can move around cities and rural areas, because they need escorts – explains Stephanie – The girls they can’t go to secondary school, and that’s something we don’t see anywhere else on the planet and certainly sports aren’t allowed either. This situation is really unsustainable ”

But without women, Stephanie concludes with a hopeful look, there can be no future. “My dream for Afghanistan is that it is led by women. Maybe from a woman from Free to Run. I believe that now the space in which they can operate in Afghanistan is very limited and there is a responsibility in this sense for those in power to stop binding their rights and to create this space. A country like Afghanistan will never know the peace and the stability without the involvement of women ”