'We left family, friends without a goodbye' - member of all-girl Afghan robotics team
Record ID:
1633639
'We left family, friends without a goodbye' - member of all-girl Afghan robotics team
- Title: 'We left family, friends without a goodbye' - member of all-girl Afghan robotics team
- Date: 25th August 2021
- Summary: DOHA, QATAR (AUGUST 25, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) AFGHAN ROBOTICS TEAM MEMBER, AYDA HAYDARPOUR, SAYING: "You know the situation was so bad, there was the wars, and there was war in Afghanistan and we didn't have electricity, internet and we couldn't have any connection with the world, like we participated in the competition but we didn't have the chance to just have a meeting with them like video conferences but we moved to Kabul to just continue our participation and competition and then again in Kabul the situation repeated and again we had to move Kabul, move from Kabul and come to Qatar."
- Embargoed: 8th September 2021 14:31
- Keywords: Afghanistan All-girls robotics Afghan team Conflict Taliban U.S. Women
- Location: HERAT, AFGHANISTAN / WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES / DOHA, QATAR
- City: HERAT, AFGHANISTAN / WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES / DOHA, QATAR
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA008ERS3SQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Nine members of an all-girl Afghan robotics team are currently in Doha after being evacuated last week from the Afghani capital, Kabul, following Taliban quick takeover of the country.
The robotics team, originally from the city of Herat, first made headlines after winning a special award at an international robotics competition in Washington DC in 2017.
Most of the team has now been evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power.
"We had dreams, we left our families, we left our friends, we left all of our relatives and without saying any goodbye to them," team member, Ayda Haydarpour, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday (August 25).
The group took over Afghanistan last week as the United States and its allies withdrew troops from the country. The White House and U.S. allies are racing to complete the evacuation of all foreigners and vulnerable Afghans before the expiry of an August 31 deadline agreed with the Taliban, U.S. President Joe Biden said this week.
The team, made up of girls and women as young as 14, has been heralded for winning international awards for its robots and started work in March on an open-source, low-cost ventilator as the coronavirus pandemic hit the war-torn nation.
The Taliban, which previously barred girls from schools and women from working when they ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, has promised to prioritize women's rights and girls' education.
The team was split up with 5 other members of the robotics team landing in Mexico on Tuesday (August 24).
(Production: Alexander Cornwell, Eman Kamel, Bilal Al Sebai, Tarek Fahmy) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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