Today we’re interviewing Boshra Rasouly, a tenth grade student living in Herat. She discusses the importance of changing the perception of Afghanistan and the perception of women in Afghanistan. As she explains, this isn’t possible without support and a helping hand! To keep her and her classmates’ education progressing, donate online at codetosinpire.org.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What is your favorite subject in school and why?
My favorite subjects are Math, Biology, and Geography. I love math because when I solve a problem, I feel good and happy. I think an understanding of math in particular will help me learn all of my other subjects in school. With Math, I have lots of new and fantastic ideas because my mind is active and fresh. I love Biology because it helps me learn about the human body and Geography because I’m interested in nature.
How did you find out about Code to Inspire?
I heard about it because a friend of my father’s worked nearby. I visited out of curiosity about the school and how it teaches computer science. I didn’t really realize what they meant by “coding!” It was a great day because now I actually understand what coding is and how to do it. I’m going to keep on coding until I’m the best!
Work from Code to Inspire students
How has your life changed since you have started learning coding?
Since I became familiar with coding my life has changed a lot because I’ve become more familiar with computers and just the whole world of coding. It’s become a real passion in my life and I dedicate a lot of time to it.
How do you compare yourself from the very first day you start writing code?
The very first days when I came here I was not so familiar with the fantastic work that I could do with coding, but day by day over the past year and a month, I have learned four languages: HTML, CSS, JS, and JQ. I feel like coding can be unpredictable because whenever you learn from this amazing language you create such fantastic things.
And now I feel more powerful from my very first day that I started writing code.
What is your message to people around the world as a girls in Afghanistan learning how to code?
In Afghanistan, we haven’t progressed as much as the rest of the world. This is true for coding, where there are a lot of limitations for girls and women. Fortunately today we can see that this limitation is decreasing as women in Afghanistan are proving that we don’t need to conform to outdated ideas of how we should behave.
We can have lives outside of home, work, or school, and women can participate in different places like coding to show their power and communicate with the world and share their ideas on solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
My message to people around the world is that Afghan women, like all other women, have lots of talent, great ideas, and big ambition, but just they need to a powerful hand and the support of people.
