November 17, 2024

Authored by:

B.L. Wilson

Fatana Lameh was waiting to get her certificate from one of the accredited universities in Malaysia that would show she'd completed her master's in biotechnologywith the highest grades. In a few weeks, she thought, she'd return to her home in Kabul. But during the few weeks she waited, Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban as the United States started to evacuate its alliesin August 2021. The government of Afghanistan that had sent her abroad to study was no more.

Chaos ensued there. News reports came describing explosions at the airport in Kabul. A crush of thousands of people trying to flee the country filled the airport and its perimeter. From her place in Malaysia, Lameh had no idea what had become of her family, including her parents who had been employed by the vanquished government and what will happen to her life and future.

"It was so stressful for me. I was so alone in Malaysia, just studying and handling everything alone," she said.

"I felt so much terror, especially when my family was back in Kabul in that situation," she said. "Every minute I was thinking when someone messaged me that someone was already gone, passed away.

"I was stuck there in Malaysia. My family was evacuated to the U.S., but I couldn't come to the U.S. It was impossible to return to my country. The conditions were worsening. It is still not safe for me, for all the girls.

Dreams of lecturing at Kabul University, returning to the life she had known in Afghanistan, living with her parents and three siblings went up in dust and smoke. As did the education of girls and the participation of women in the life of the country in the months following the takeover by the Taliban. The new government policymeant that she could no longer work as a university lecturer, part of the new government's limiting of women's participation in Afghan society.

Before the Taliban, women were allowed to teach and attend universities, but she would have been pushing boundaries to wear the black blazer and jeans. "In Kabul, there was a kind of freedom [before the fall of the government], not the freedom of 'whatever you want,'" Lameh said. "I wasn't able to take off my scarf because it was taboo, unacceptable. I was expected not to wear short sleeves. We should be covered," she continued, lowering her hands to well below her knees to show how much she of herself she had to cover.

Fatana Lameh was attracted to GW by the job posting that described the university's diverse community.

Lameh is now here in United States, her dark hair held back simply by a hair band she donned on a recent day in her George Washington University office on the Mount Vernon campus.

For the fall semester, she is serving as program coordinator of the Science, Health and Medicine cohort of the Elizabeth J. Somers Women's Leadership Program. Now, she fits right in, feels comfortable. And safe.

When an opportunity came to join her family in the United States, she deferred work on the doctorate and came to the United States. Lameh said her university colleagues from Kabul are scattered around the world, languishing in roles that mostly are downgrades from the positions they'd held at the university: Those in Afghanistan are sequestered in rooms in Afghanistan unable to go outside without a male chaperone. Lameh searched publications for jobs in the United States.

She saw a posting from GW that described everything she wanted-an adjunct professorship particularly someone from a historically marginalized group, to coordinate a program for incoming students from diverse backgrounds exploring science and to teach an introductory course in biology.

"I was completely devastated and felt as though I had lost all my academic achievements and the efforts I had put into my education," she said. "However, I remained determined and tried to stay in my field by seeking opportunities in the U.S."

Educational degrees from institutions overseas are not always accepted in the United State, but a master's degree in biotechnology from the University of Malaysia is, in some cases, regarded by international evaluators as the equivalent degree from an institution of higher education in the United States. The GW posting that included a description of a diverse community struck Lameh.

"I see the people in front of me, different cultures, different religions, different backgrounds, different appearances, but we still are one community and accept each other. That's what I love about this GW community.

"When I see what is going on here, I'm happy for them. They deserve to have a good life. I'm happy for everyone here," she said.

"Sometimes I see a picture, mostly in my mind and there is no girl. Those spaces are empty."