Campaign Snapshot: This fundraiser supports Sayed Ul-Shuhada High School in Kabul, Afghanistan. In May, terrorists targeted the school with several suicide bombs, killing 100 students and injuring another one hundred. As an Afghan cyclist with ties to the school, I have decided to take on an enormous cycling challenge to help with the fundraiser as well as pay tribute to the victims. I will explain about my bike ride later. For now, please read crucial information below about the attack.
On May 8, 2021, around 4 p.m local time, just as female students were exiting Sayed Ul-Shuhada high school, a bomb inside a parked car went off at the school's entrance. As hundreds of students ran away to the street, two more explosions took place, instantly taking many lives. In the end, nearly one hundred students—mostly girls—died, and another one hundred were injured.
The attack, deadliest in Kabul's history, targeted young schoolgirls who dreamt of building a brighter future for Afghanistan, particularly for Afghan women, who were banned from schools during the Taliban regime. Despite the horror it created, just a day after the attack, student survivors announced their unwavering commitment to continue their education. "We will enter the ground stronger. Our pen will be our weapon. We will fight them with the pen", one student said.
I grew up in Dasht-e Barchi, the neighborhood where the bombing happened. It is home to one million people, whose mostly poor residents live in narrow streets of mud-houses that lack proper water and electricity; their economic hardships only accentuated by decades of government neglect. Education has emerged as the only hope out of these hardships for Dasht-e Barchi's younger generation, who, as ethnic Hazaras, face frequent attacks from the Taliban and Islamic State in ongoing acts of genocide that date back over a century. Last October, another suicide bombing in a tutoring center killed 24 students. In August 2018, a bomb inside a classroom killed 48 students, including my best friend's sister, Rahila. The day before the attack on Sayed Ul-Shuhada, I had an online class with some of its students. One of them got injured in the bombing.
In each of the students who were killed, I see my younger self. Like them, I sat in dusty classrooms, squeezed on a wooden bench against other students—because we didn't have desks—until I came to the United States on a series of educational scholarships. Most of my classmates' parents were day laborers earning less than $5/day. In 2019, I graduated from Middlebury College with an Economics degree. I am now earning my MBA. To the community who nurtured me be where I am today, I owe them everything. With your help, I want to ensure education is always available to those who dare to dream, and don't give in to fear. Let's do this!
How This Fundraiser Works: Naw Shakh Cycling Challenge
The idea is simple: Naw Shakh is Afghanistan's tallest mountain peak, elevation 24,580 feet. I want to climb it in a single day on my bike to raise a dollar for every foot of the climb. Hence, the campaign goal of $24,580 for the students of Sayed Ul-Shuhada school.
There are two reasons I have chosen to do the #NawShakhCyclingChallenge. The first is to pay tribute to the victims and memorialize their lives. Mountains are sacred symbols of strength and peace. As Afghanistan's beloved author Khalid Hosseini captured their essence in the title of his book And the Mountains Echoed, no injustice can go unnoticed. In the end, mountains will reverberate the cries of innocent children who were denied the right to live and get educated. By climbing Afghanistan's tallest peak, I will commemorate the victims and make sure the injustices inflicted upon them will never be forgotten.
The second is to create fundraising momentum. This challenge will take an enormous effort, and as a former competitive cyclist, it will be the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike. My hope is that by embracing a personal challenge like this, I can inspire people to give to the cause.
As a cyclist, I can't think of a better way to offer my talent in service of a greater cause. Until recently, I competed in the US with hopes of becoming the first Afghan to race the Olympics in mountain biking. I spent the past five years training and chasing that dream. In cycling, I saw a way to empower Afghan youth and women because of the bicycle's liberating nature which allows anyone to be in full control of where they wish to go. I founded a nonprofit, Mountain Bike Afghanistan, to help Afghan youth achieve joy, glory, and—for Afghan women—equality through cycling. Though my dream of going to the Olympics didn't materialize, this fundraiser is the best way to put my training to good use.
Naw Shakh Details:
- When: some day at the end of July, depending on when the weather will be ideal
- Where: Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains, New York State
- Whiteface Mountain elevation: 3527 ft.
- Number of summit attempts required until Naw Shakh is reached: seven
- Approximate ride distance: 115 miles
Upon successful completion of the challenge, I will light a candle at the summit for every victim of the bombing. Then, I will descend to offer your support for the ones we still have.
A dollar ($) for every foot of Naw Shakh climbed. Please help. Thank you/Tashakur/Manana.
