On Thursday, March 17th at 9AM PST / 12PM EST / 4PM UK Time / 5PM Monaco Time, The 30 Birds Foundation will be having a special live Zoom call from Pakistan. This will be a rare opportunity to see some of the Hazara schoolgirls face to face and to talk with them about their experiences.

In August, 2021, as the Taliban violently took Afghanistan, thousands of Hazara schoolgirls were forced into hiding. Some of the most at-risk were from Marefat - the first school in Afghanistan to bring girls and boys into the same classroom.

Marefat supporters from around the world, ordinary citizens, came together to help the most at-risk girls. Now known as the 30 Birds Foundation, they partnered with the girls to plan their escape. While 30 Birds built relations with ambassadors, generals and even Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, the bravest girls played an active part in coordinating their own evacuation. Under duress, moving themselves in small groups from city to city and past Taliban checkpoints, these girls helped 30 Birds guide over 400 at-risk Afghans safely across the border.

Half made it to Canada. The other half, including 50 young women who fled without families, are stuck in Pakistan. The 30 Birds Foundation, co-founded by my previous student Abuzar Royesh and The Trebuchet’s Co-Director Jennifer Selendy, is raising funds to reunite this community in Canada.

Please RSVP for the event here.