DOHA — Qatar has granted academic scholarships to
members of a girls' robotics team from Afghanistan dubbed the "Afghan
Dreamers", the Gulf nation's education and science foundation said on Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
Qatar has been instrumental in efforts to evacuate at-risk
Afghans and foreigners from Kabul airport, including members of the team who
are being housed in Doha's Education City campus of schools and universities.
"They will receive scholarships that enable them to
keep pursuing their studies through a partnership between Qatar Foundation (QF)
and Qatar Fund For Development," QF said in a statement.
The team of high-achieving high school girls has about 20
members, mostly still in their teens, and are now dotted around the world with
some in Qatar as well as
Mexico.
The girls made headlines in 2017 after being denied visas to
take part in a robotics competition in Washington — before then-president
Donald Trump intervened and they were allowed to travel.
Last year, they worked to build a low-cost medical
ventilator from car parts hoping to boost hospital equipment during the
coronavirus pandemic.
"These talented, creative students have been living
through a time of uncertainty and upheaval, and at Qatar Foundation we want to
do whatever we can," said Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani,
vice-chairwoman and chief executive of QF.
"By providing them with scholarships to study at
Education City, their education can now continue uninterrupted."
The girls' needs were being assessed to determine which
schools or pre-university programs they should be placed in, she added.
The Taliban's seizure of power a little over one week ago
has furled a chaotic mass exodus as many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal
interpretation of Islamic law implemented during the militants' 1996–2001 rule.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with several
members of the team on Tuesday during a whirlwind tour of the emirate.
"You're famous around the world and a source of inspiration,"
he told them. "The story you've already told about the importance about
women engaging in science ... sends an important message around the world, well
beyond Afghanistan."
Roya Mahboob, the founder of the Digital Citizen Fund,
parent organisation of the team, said the girls were "excited and grateful
for this opportunity to study abroad".
She also questioned Blinken on what the future would hold
for Afghan women.
Several other members of the robotics team, none of whom
were identified for security reasons, have relocated to Mexico.
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