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Maiwand Ahmadsei (31) fled Afghanistan as a child. Today he works as an assistant doctor at the University Hospital Zurich and works for the forgotten people of his former homeland. In the interview he talks about enormous challenges and his successes.
Mr. Ahmadsei, Afghan women have not been allowed to go to university since the end of last year. You have decided to counter this.
Maiwand Ahmad said: Shortly after the ban was declared, we started an online course program for Afghan medical students. Our team consists of international experts who give lectures on a daily basis.
Where’s the squad?
We are spread all over the world. I live and work in Zurich. The core team consists of Afghan doctors in Pakistan. Other physicians who volunteer for the program live in the US and Europe.
Who finances your project?
No one. To date, we have deliberately chosen not to accept money. We first want to build the platform properly and then accept help after a thorough selection. Anyone familiar with the situation in Afghanistan knows that aid money unfortunately has a bad reputation. In the past 20 years, many projects have been launched to raise funds. There was little interest in human suffering. We are all volunteers. It is all the more remarkable what we have achieved in recent weeks and months. We work practically beyond the Taliban regime and the interest on the part of the students is immense.
How many female students take part in the lectures?
Now around 3000. The demand is huge. But we can’t handle that in the long run, because we certainly can’t replace a university as a whole. There are also technical and logistical problems such as missing hardware or bad internet connections. Especially with regard to the latter, we really hope for help and donations. A few laptops can be crucial for many students to maneuver their future.
Would the Taliban also have heard of your work?
That’s correct. In particular, it probably concerns them, some Taliban leaders in Kabul: they are apparently more moderate and open when it comes to education for girls. However, they have no decision-making power. Still, it was said that we can continue. We wouldn’t be disturbed. This highlights the internal disagreements within the various Taliban factions.
How long will this go on?
With this we have started to offer the female students perspective. Powerlessness is a bad feeling and they don’t want to do nothing at home after the Taliban decree. Talks are currently underway with renowned Western universities. We may soon be able to award credits in collaboration with official educational institutions, which would be a big step.
You too have an escape story.
We came to Germany in the early 2000s. Our escape was laborious and difficult and can be retold by tens of thousands of Afghans who have experienced the same thing. We experienced the civil war years of the 1990s in Kabul up close and had to hide from the missiles of various militias, for example by staying in our basement and hardly having anything to eat. Those were dark days and I wish the people of Afghanistan never to repeat themselves.
From your words one gets the impression that Afghanistan will never settle down and that not much has really changed in recent decades.
Much has been done wrong and all actors involved in the current dilemma must now bear their responsibility. This affects both the Afghans, such as the Taliban, various warlords and corrupt politicians who have now fled abroad, and the international community, which has been waging war in the Hindu Kush for two decades with no exit strategy. The Afghan people must now pay for all these fatal mistakes.
*Emran Feroz is an Austrian-Afghan journalist, war reporter and author. In 2021 his book “The Longest War, 20 Years War on Terror” was published by Westend-Verlag.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
