"Laila" awoke in the middle of the night for a glass of water, checked her phone almost by accident, and saw an email that made her stomach drop. The US would stop funding the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), one of the last places women can still study in the country. Laila said she sat on her bed, staring, her thoughts racing through the past five years and everything she had endured just to get an education.
It had not been easy to find a way to study in Afghanistan after the Taliban outlawed women's education. The American University campus was already taken over by the Taliban, but she could study secretly through the university's online program. But now that the university is losing its financing, she told DW she and her classmates fear it will shut down entirely.
Her name has been changed for safety reasons. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Laila is in her mid-twenties. She studies political science and international studies and is one of around 1,000 enrolled students at the university, three-quarters of them women.
When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Laila was studying at another university in Kabul, with just two final exams remaining to finish her semester. Then, in December 2022, the Taliban announced the ban. Laila's degree was left unfinished.
Laila secured a scholarship to AUAF and started over. "Not every girl got that opportunity," she said. Laila has told few people outside of her family about her online studies.
On most days, she stays home for remote lectures, alongside classmates who use aliases and keep their cameras off for security. "I just know their voices," she said. Laila speaks English with an American accent.
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