Nabila Rahimi is a remarkable Afghan Canadian Woman who is looking to make a difference in her community.
When Nabila was a twenty-year-old woman living in Kabul, the Taliban came into power. At this time, despite incredible risks, Nabila and her mother set up a series of homeschools for girls. Their grassroots home school movement started with just a small number of girls, but soon grew and became known as the Sunrise School Movement. In time they were able to provide education for hundreds of girls and secure funding from the Norwegian Church Aid.
Another project that Ms. Rahimi developed in Kabul was a library. Ms. Rahimi used her skills as a community organizer to build this library from a small grassroots project to one that received support from the Iranian Embassy, BBC as well the Norwegian Church Aid.
Unfortunately, it became impossible for Ms. Rahimi to continue her work in Afghanistan as the Taliban started to target her, and she feared for her life. As a result, Ms. Rahimi fled as a refugee to Sweden. Once in Sweden Nabila continued to be an activist and community organizer and worked on behalf of women and children in the community.
In 2013, Ms. Rahimi came to Canada and since her arrival, she sought out ways to get involved. She has volunteered as an educational assistant in a local elementary school, designed and implemented a Dari program, and has been an active member of the school's Newcomer Mothers’ Group. She has also inspired other newcomer women to write their stories for a collaborative book about their lives. In the Kitchener community she has also established Dari classes and educated the community at large about the plight of Afghan women.
Nabila has also spoken on behalf of the school's Multi-Lingual Language Program and our Newcomer Mothers’ Group in various settings, including the Waterloo Region District School Board and Kitchener City Hall. This coming May, she will also be presenting at the Celebrating Linguistic Diversity Conference at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Although Nabila has not recently been back to Afghanistan, she has stayed connected with her country of origin and has supported many projects there, including a documentary film. This summer Ms. Rahimi will be returning to Afghanistan to continue her work supporting and developing educational programs for girls and women. Prior to her return to Afghanistan she is hoping to make a connections in the KW community to help both her local mission, as well as to rebuild schools that were destroyed in Afghanistan.