The meaning of this day.

It’s been five years to the day since the world I knew collapsed. My world, and the world of every Afghan woman.

August 15, 2021. The day Kabul fell. The day the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The day my colleagues and I set fire to the academic records of the girls of SOLA. In the courtyard of our Kabul campus, we burned our students’ names. Their histories. Their identities. All into the flames, all vanishing in smoke.

We did it to protect our girls, to keep them safe and their families safe. We came to Rwanda. We found a welcome here. We are thriving here. And that fire we kindled five years ago today – I carry its meaning with me to this moment.

This week, UNESCO reported that 2.4 million girls are being deprived of secondary education in Afghanistan. The phrasing matters. These aren’t just girls out of school. These are girls actively deprived of their human right to learn. 2.4 million girls. This is real life, right now, in the year 2026.

Five years ago, I challenged the world: don’t look away from Afghanistan. The message was important then and it’s essential now. Afghan women and girls will never give up. Don’t look away.

Fire and smoke, and the coming of darkness. August 15 will always have these memories for me. And I’ll remember August 15 for a new memory too, one I’m making today. I’ll remember it as the day I shared these photos with the world.

We took them just a few days ago. SOLA girls are in these vans. They’re moving from the campus we’ve called home since 2021 to our new campus in Rwanda, our newly built home where Afghan girls will always be free to learn. I’ll share more about this campus with you before August is over.

One choice at a time, one action at a time, we reclaim the meaning of this day. Afghan women, Afghan girls. Out of the ashes, we rise.