Remember the six Afghan girls, who were initially denied entry to the US? The team has been bestowed a silver medal for their “courageous achievement” at the First Global Challenge in Washington, DC, according to Al Jazeera. They overcame hardships in a war-torn country, gender stereotypes, lack of resources and US bureaucracy on their way to the contest.
Afghanistan’s fierce ladies who broke all stereotypes by challenging teenagers from 150 other countries, were earlier this year denied visas twice by the US State Department. However, the competition had participant teams from countries like Syria, Iran and Sudan who are subjected to a temporary travel ban, under the order of the current U.S. President.
The girls, were confident and believed in their engineering skills, given the limited robot-related resources accessible to them have now have won million hearts.
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"We wanted to show our talent to the world so they would know that we do have skills,” Rodaba Noori, one of the robotics expert, told Al Jazeera.
The six-member team hails from Herat. It was their grit and determination that crowned them with a silver, after competing with teenagers from 150 countries from around the world. However, according to Al Jazeera, while receiving the award their “can-do attitude” was praised the most.
The six girls from Afghanistan guided their robot, through remote control, to sort blue and orange balls, down a patch of turf inside the competition hall in Washington.
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"It's my dream to develop robots," Fatima Qadiryan told the Associated Press. "I want to say thank you to the US officials and to the US president who helped us."
"We were not a terrorist group to go to America and scare people," Fatema Ghaderyan, 14, told AFP. "We just wanted to show the power and skills of Afghan girls to Americans."
The president of the event, former Democratic Congressman, Joe Sestak, said,“I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences.”
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Feature Image Credit: The Express Tribune
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