Eager to learn and relearn. (International).Shafiqa Abdulwaquil stares at the division problem and thinks, hard. Math had once come easily to her, and this solution should have, too. But she was 12 when the Taliban Taliban or Taleban (tälēbän`, –lə–), Islamic fundamentalist militia in Afghanistan, originally consisting mainly of Sunni Pashtun religious students educated and trained in Pakistan. banned girls from school. Now she is 17. Across Afghanistan, tens of thousands of girls are shaking off cobwebs cob·web n. 1. a. The web spun by a spider to catch its prey. b. A single thread spun by a spider. 2. Something resembling the web of a spider in gauziness or flimsiness. 3. and bending their heads to shared, worn books. At the Ariana Afghan High School in Kabul, 500 girls are already in class, with another 200 to ' 300 waiting to register and start. More arrive every day. Crammed cram v. crammed, cram·ming, crams v.tr. 1. To force, press, or squeeze into an insufficient space; stuff. 2. To fill too tightly. 3. a. To gorge with food. four to a desk, the girls--many now women--giggle with excitement. But the task is daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin . There is no way to tell how difficult it will be to restore their confidence and help them catch up in their studies. Some have forgotten all of what they once knew. Their psyches can be equally damaged after years of repression repression, in psychology: see defense mechanism; psychoanalysis. repression In metabolism, a control mechanism by which a protein molecule, called a repressor, prevents the synthesis of an enzyme by binding to (and thus hindering the action of) the , although they seem to be springing back quickly. As Shafiqa says, "Every day, it's easier for me. Every day, I remember something new." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion