Awista Ayub - A Beacon of Hope for the Children of Afghanistan

By Aishah Schwartz

On October 18, 1979, a child named Awista Ayub was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Nearly a quarter of a century later, she would become an internationally recognized beacon of hope to a generation of young girls, survivors of the fallen Taliban regime. As a result of Awista’s visionary Afghan Youth Sports Exchange program, a new generation of girls has learned the simple joy of kicking around a soccer ball, after decades of war and struggle in their homeland.

A Brief History of Afghanistan

In the same year that Awista was born, the Soviet-backed Afghan government, facing increased opposition to its “un-Islamic” social policies from guerrilla opposition forces, otherwise referred to as the Taliban, fell into what is now known as the Afghanistan War (1979-89). 

Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban continued to steadily gain ground until, by August of 1998, they appeared on the verge of taking over the whole country when the United States launched its initial intervention. However, despite attempts by the United Nations to broker a peace agreement, followed by sanctions taken against the country, by 2000 the Taliban controlled approximately 90% of the country. 

After Taliban militia destroyed all statues in the nation (2001) that were considered idolatrous, an act even condemned by other Islamic nations, the stakes were raised as the terrorist assaults on the World Trade Center and Pentagon took place on the now, forever infamous date of September 11.  As a part of its subsequent war against terror, the United States provided assistance to opposition groups the Taliban was ousted in December of 2001. 

Afghanistan held its first democratic elections in 2004, but by the spring of 2005 increased attacks by the Taliban and their allies emerged. By May of 2006 the U.S.-led coalition of armed forces launched its largest campaign against Taliban forces, and to date thousands of U.S. peacekeeping forces remain inside the country. 

Despite concrete democratic and constitutional gains, the children and women of Afghanistan struggle to remain hopeful of regaining even the most basic civil and human rights.

Life Under Taliban Rule

Imagine a sunny Friday afternoon, you and your friends join a sold-out crowd at the Kabul sports stadium - only instead of gathering to support favored players or teams, spectators clamor to watch as the hands of thieves are chopped off at the wrist; the fingers of women caught wearing nail polish are unceremoniously sliced off; women accused of adultery are shot in the back of the head, while their male counterparts lay in pools of blood, unmercifully whipped to shreds. 

And what of the children of Afghanistan?  For nearly two decades the Taliban had banned sports and games, including soccer, volleyball, kite flying, even chess, as immoral and unlawful. Girls were forced to wear burqas and were most certainly not allowed to attend school.  Adult women were not allowed to seek outside employment. Female mortality rates, as a result of rampant domestic abuse increased and literacy rates plummeted.

All of this, a far cry from the relative stability Afghanistan had known from the 1930’s and into the 70’s when Awista’s own mother reveled in the freedom to play basketball as a teenage girl in Kabul.

Hope for a Brighter Future

In 1981 Awista’s father, an electrical engineer, managed with the help of a cousin already living in the United States, to secure an opportunity to give his children hope for the future. Uprooting his young family, which included a son (now 28), Awista (now 27), her younger sister (now 26), and the teenage sister of his wife, the Ayub family left their war-ravaged homeland, destination: Waterbury, Connecticut. 

Throughout the subsequent years of living in the U.S., Awista’s parents worked diligently to remind the children of their Afghan heritage and Muslim identity, which, of course, included learning their prayers. On Saturday’s Awista’s mother would sit with the children and coach them as they practiced Qur’an recitation and learned the Arabic alphabet.

Taking her teaching skills a step further, Awista’s mother, determined to get off the assembly line in the factory where she found her first job in the U.S., also helped her children understand that education would be pivotal to their futures by setting an example in continuing her own education in order to obtain official certification as a teacher. 

By being good role models, nurturing and gently guiding their children throughout the years, Awista’s parents would later learn that their precocious second child would take off running with a moral and work ethic that would eventually facilitate her ability to make her long-held dream of returning to Afghanistan come true. 

Fulfilling a Dream to Return to Her Roots

It’s not difficult to imagine that Awista dreamed of visiting the country of her birth, however, throughout the years, given Afghanistan’s war torn status, she was unable to; that is, until September 11.  It turned out, ironically, that the catastrophic events of September 11 would be the catalyst opening the door to Awista’s dream, as Afghanistan began to fall into a semblance of stability after U.S. forces brought about the collapse of the Taliban. 

Having had the opportunity as a teenager to be a member of her high school tennis team for four years, and later playing ice hockey at the University of Rochester in New York, where she studied chemistry, Awista, remembering the stories told by her mother of years past when she had thrived playing basketball, found herself consumed with empathy for the oppressed young girls of her home country, and set her ambition toward devising a way to bring sports back into their lives; and the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange (AYSE) was born.

About AYSE

Researching on her own the details of how to start a non-profit corporation, Awista Ayub, at the age of 23, founded The Afghan Youth Sports Exchange (http://www.afghansports.org) in the fall of 2003. Awista’s vision was that AYSE would be dedicated to equipping youth with the leadership skills required to promote athletics in their schools and communities, and to creating a structured youth sports system that would support and cultivate future sports leaders for Afghanistan, utilizing already established programs on the ground, while working to address human rights issues through athletics. 

Working closely with Awista back in Afghanistan was collaborator, Duaine Goodnoin, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) and the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) (to name a few), who collectively assisted in achieving AYSE’s initial mission, and in 2004, the first fully-sponsored girls soccer team, consisting of eight members from Kabul, Afghanistan, arrived in the United States.

To date, AYSE and its partners have reached out to more than 250 female soccer players in Kabul, ranging in ages between 12 and 18, and established 15 girls’ soccer teams within Afghanistan.

AYSE Achievements (2004-06)

With the support of the ANOC and AFF, AYSE has worked to establish athletic and leadership skills among girls and young women through the organization of soccer clinics, development of soccer curriculum for instructors, coaches, referees and administrators, and organized coaching seminars for 15 female soccer coaches in Kabul.

AYSE also organized a five-day soccer clinic that included players training, coaches training, and an organized game for the Afghanistan Elite National Girl’s Soccer Team.

AYSE coaches developed a comprehensive players’ curriculum, which they utilized on and off the field in order to teach the fundamentals of soccer while at the same time allowing the girls to have fun. 

The German Football Federation led a coaches’ training program to teach the female soccer coaches the fundamentals of organizing an effective practice on the field.

AYSE also helped establish city-wide girls soccer leagues throughout Kabul, and raised $10,000 for new and used equipment, in addition to initiating discussions with the ANOC, the AFF and female soccer coaches, allowing them to voice their needs and concerns for the future of women’s soccer in Afghanistan.

In 2006 the AYSE sponsored a Girls Soccer Clinic that laid the foundation for future sports camps in Afghanistan so that AYSE can reach out to more children in an effort to nurture athleticism, communication, and leadership skills imperative to Afghanistan’s future generation of leaders.

As a result of the AYSE 2006 Girls Soccer Clinic in Kabul, the AFF donated an equipment room to be used by the women’s soccer division to store equipment for each team.

A Labor of Love and the Fruit of Success

On learning that the 2006 Girls Soccer Clinic and tournament would be featured on ESPN during the 2006 ESPY Awards program, and that the participating girls would receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award presented annually to individuals whose contributions transcend sports, Awista stated, “I feel like a proud mother seeing how they’ve turned their lives around and grown into young women who are encouraged to embrace who they are, who have learned to trust one another, are no longer afraid to share their opinions, and believe in something with enough conviction to work for it.”

Two members of the 2006 clinic, Shamila Kohestani and Roia Ahmad, were selected to receive the award on behalf of the group.

In addition to the ESPN ESPY Awards feature, the 2006 AYSE Girls Soccer Clinic was featured on ABC Nightly News, Glamour Magazine, the Sports Illustrated website, and The New York Daily News.

Surmounting Obstacles and Aspirations for the Future

Creating a nonprofit organization from the ground up could be a daunting task for most anyone, but Awista, who won the Susan B. Anthony Prize awarded by the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership, in recognition of exceptional leadership, scholarship, and student involvement, in addition to helping launch the University of Rochester’s first women’s ice hockey team, and founding the Northeast Women’s Collegiate Hockey Association, serving as the league for the greater New England’s women’s ice hockey teams, has been unstoppable in her resolve to make a difference.  It is clear from her achievements that Awista has a great interest in helping people learn, and when she sets her mind to something, well, it seems destined to come to fruition.

Of course, it hasn’t all been fun and games. At home in Afghanistan, the girls are not allowed to practice in public, they wear long pants, long sleeved shirts, and head scarves.  They have faced the ridicule of parents telling them that sports are unseemly and unfeminine and will cause irreparable damage to their bodies. They have endured the cat-calls of boys as they arrive at practice fields, surrounded by towering walls and armed guards. 

However, the beauty of soccer is that it transcends cultural, religious, and social divides.  It demands dialogue and the forging of a collective identity, for no single player can score alone; the overall experience is a true test of tolerance and endurance.  “To be able to equip girls with just a ball and see them turn into ambassadors for athletics is the key to creating positive social change,” Awista states.

The biggest challenge to the AYSE program could come from within Afghanistan itself, due to the unsettled nature of the country’s social and political climate. “Afghanistan is at a breaking point and can easily sway in either direction; we have to move forward in a way that really helps improve the lives of the Afghan children,” Awista added.

When asked what drives her vision to support change for the children of Afghanistan, Awista offered, “I decided to work with youth to help them achieve more personal success, so that they can take responsibility and develop a sense of ownership in their country. The AYSE program is a catalyst, and its success shows that need and desire in the country.”

Continuing, Awista stated, “Afghanistan has lost an entire generation as a result of decades of war and the oppressive rule of the Taliban regime. If we’re going to make an impact with the post-Taliban generation, we have to start today.” 

Our support of programs like AYSE and the dedication of role models like Awista Ayub are critical not only to the children of Afghanistan, but the silent voices of children across the globe hopeful for a brighter future.

Copyright © Aishah Schwartz 2007. Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.

—————————

Aishah Schwartz is a Muslim American freelance writer. A catalogue of Sister Aishah’s Islamic journeys since embracing Islam in April of 2002 can be found at http://www.sisteraishah.com Ms. S.chwartz is also Founder and Director of Muslimah Writers Alliance.