Share Facebook

Twitter

The Afghan Girls’ Robotics Team made an appearance during the morning session of Day 2 of the Humans to Mars Summit through sponsorships by the Musk Foundation and Explore Mars These recent recipients of the Permission to Dream Award were spearheaded by the founder and CEO of Digital Citizen Fund, Roya Mahboob, and introduced by Keri Kukral, CEO and founder of Raw Science. Team members included Fatemah Qaderyan, Lida Azizi, Somaya Faruqi, Saghar Salehi, and Kawsar Roshan.

“The mind of a child is a source of unlimited potential,” said Roya Mahboob during her introductory speech. She stressed that it is important to give children the tools they need to become the next generation of scientists and artists. That isn’t always possible in countries controlled by regimes like the Taliban, under which girls were “sentenced to a life of ignorance without the possibility of parole.”

“I started the Digital Citizen Fund with one goal: to see technology as an acceptable option for everyone, especially women in third world countries,” she said.

It’s an uphill battle, of course: “For so long, we have been seen as a country of war, terror, and fear.” The women served by the Digital Citizen Fund often fought the battle of winning over their own families in a region where the Taliban might have been overthrown, but highly conservative religious beliefs still exist. However, they have proven that they can succeed if given the tools to do so. Afghan children like the Girls’ Robotics Team may even be among the first to walk on Mars if they receive the opportunity to do so.

The youngest member of the team, Fatemah Qaderyan spoke through a translator.

“We are the first girls’ robotics team who were chosen … from 150 students,” she said.

The robotics team needed assistance with their visas, but were able to attend international competitions, including taking first prize in a robotics competition in New Mexico and achieving a title in a competition in Canada. One of their robots is an agricultural robot that can operate with increased power efficiency. Another is an EV drone that can drive on its own.

She spoke of the challenges faced in the modern world: “Not only our and your life, but the life of the planet is passing and, even now, we have not achieved global peace.”

Miss Qaderyan mentioned ongoing explorations of the planet Mars as a positive thing that could bring hope for the continuation of human life even in the mist of these struggles. She says she believes that humans are resilient enough to face the challenges posed by Mars and possibly even build a new civilization on this planet even though it is very different from Earth.

She referred back to international cooperation as a common theme during the 2019 Humans to Mars Summit: “It will only be possible by having global unity.”

There seems to have been a mistranslation or possibly a reference to a science fiction story, as Qaderyan seemed to refer to a crewed Afghan mission to the Moon or Mars in 1988. It may be hoped, however, that people from Afghanistan can participate in crewed missions to Mars at some point in the future.

Again, the importance of increased education was referred to: “Although the world has progressed a lot, there are also children who are deprived of going to school.”

Qaderyan announced a plan to address this issue by building a school for STEAM topics in Afghanistan known as the DREAMER Institute. She expressed the hope that this school could produce Afghanistan’s equivalent of Nikola Tesla and Stephen Hawking. Qaderyan will act as an ambassador for the DREAMER institute.

She finished by saying, “I hope all humans will have the chance to go to Mars, but don’t change Mars to a second Earth.”

Keri Krukal again took the stage to discuss the DREAMER Institute and also announced that the team would also like to build an innovation ecosystem. The Institute will accept students ages 14-17 and focus on blockchain, AI, robotics, machine learning, and aerospace. Locations will include Kabul, Mazar, Jalalabad, and Kandahar. Each location will ideally be able to accommodate at least 800 students. A special goal of the Institute is to address inequalities in education, especially among young women who face actual dangers to their safety if they choose to pursue an education.

The DREAMER Institute will rely on public-private partnerships starting with a deal with the Central Partnership Authority of Afghanistan to create a STEAM high school and university. The Afghan government will provide land, funding, a manufacturing laboratory, electricity, and Internet access. The deal already includes the donation of six acres of land in Kabul University that will hopefully attract young women with the promise of access to modern education and high-tech jobs.

The DREAM leadership team will foster private sector partnerships, enrollment activities that include scholarships for low-income students, and deals with IT schools around the country. One of the Institute’s first international partnerships is with Yale University, which will assist with designing the school.

And what sort of social reception have these young ladies gotten for their participation in robotics competitions and their work on the Dreamer Institution? When asked that question by Carol Stoker, the team acknowledged that there was risk, but it wasn’t quite as bad as one might think when watching the media. Attitudes were beginning to change and, although some work could still be done in rural communities, Afghans in big cities are beginning to get used to the idea that women can be scientists. Most of the negativity was on social media.

Where would the five girls on the team like to plant footprints if they had the opportunity to go to the Moon or Mars? “Mars.” “Mars.” “Mars.” “Also Mars.” “Mars.”