In 2005, Razia Jan, a U.S. Rotarian who returned to her native Afghanistan, launched a bold initiative to establish a free private school for girls in a region where the Taliban had used extreme violence to suppress female education. Despite the risks, she secured land from the Afghan Ministry of Education and opened the Zabuli Education Center in 2008, a year marked by terrorist attacks that killed 149 teachers, students, and staff nationwide. Today, the school educates over 400 girls from kindergarten through ninth grade, offering them a chance to break cycles of poverty and gain independence. “Knowledge is something nobody can steal from them,” Jan says, reflecting on the transformative impact of education in a community where girls once had little opportunity to learn.
Jan’s efforts faced immediate resistance. Upon arriving in the village, she was told by a local man to “sit with our women and have a cup of tea,” but she refused, declaring her intent to build the school. Later, when men threatened to convert the institution into a boys’ school, she countered, “You are all blind. I want to give you some sight.” Her persistence reshaped attitudes: fathers wept when their daughters wrote their names for the first time, realizing their children’s potential. The girls now speak openly with parents, share