At AUAF as in Life

Now in his second year of studies at AUAF, Sayed Farhad Hashimi is a member of a new generation of ambitious, educated, and principled Afghans.

Hashimi came into the world the same year the Soviet Union extended their reach into Afghanistan, so his formative years were spent under the shadow of a foreign occupation, dodging the factional fighting that ravaged the country after the Soviet withdrawal, and finally chafing under the five-year Taliban rule.

In the six short years since the Taliban regime fell, Hashimi has made extraordinary progress towards his ultimate design goal to become a politician. In addition to providing for his family, maintaining a successful career, and handling the academic rigors of a full AUAF course load, Hashimi was elected President of AUAF’s student government in June 2007.

His accomplishments have not come without compromise. Hashimi maintains a formidable schedule.  He works full time as an advisor to the Ministry of Social Affairs, comes to campus for evening classes starting at 4:30, attends class until 7:30, spends between 8:00 pm and 9:00pm with his wife and three kids (Hadia, 4, Sayed Hamza Asim, 2, and Sayed Ali Asim, 1).  He then studies until 1am, and does it all over again the next day.  His goal: an internationally-recognized, high-quality degree in Public Administration and Political Science.

"I was a pioneering student here—one of the first. We put our hope in this university." After fewer than two years of study, he and his fellow students are beginning to see rewards in their professional and personal lives. "It’s happened with a number of us: we can see the change in ourselves."

Those who pursue higher education now will be the vanguard of a successful new Afghanistan. In 2005 the World Bank estimated primary education enrollment at 85%, up from just 19% in 2000. Secondary enrollment, however, stood at 16.2%, and enrollment in universities and colleges ranked even lower, at 1.1%. These figures suggest that individuals such as Hashimi, now motivated university students, will be at the tip of a new wave of highly-qualified Afghan statespersons, professionals, businesspersons, and academics.

Pursuing education, pursing peace

Although he has never known peace in his own country, Hashimi has labored to promote peace and development throughout his working life: distributing food to the hungry for the World Food Programme, working towards the elimination of violence against girls and boys for Save the Children US and Save the Children Sweden-Norway, and, most recently, promoting social justice at the Afghan Ministry of Social Affairs.

While most students would balk at the prospect of holding a full time job and supporting a family while negotiating a full course load, Hashimi takes it in stride. "You can’t learn everything," he says. "It’s important to understand what’s relevant to you." 

Hashimi understands that access to quality education, coupled with equality of opportunity, underpin success. During the Taliban years he saw women barred from schools and colleagues with similar test scores placed in law or medical programs on the basis of their ethnicity, while he was offered only vocational training.

To finance the caliber of education he needed to achieve his ambitions, Hashimi went to work full-time and took afternoon and evening classes. At an age when many of his Western counterparts are enjoying the carefree early years of college, he was earning a trifling $12 (US) a month, $8 of which he spent on attending language and computer courses, using the other $4 for food. "It seems incredible now," he laughs.

With the opening of AUAF in 2006, he saw the opportunity to study at a university that would give him direct insight into the practical problems the country is facing. "I like teaching, but I enjoy coming to a practical understanding of things I learn. When I apply, I learn forever."

Referring to a recent conference for young leaders held in Kabul, Hashimi says, "We reason and speak at the same level as those educated in US and Europe. Afghanistan is not a place left with nothing. We can get as good an education here as in other countries."

The future? There is little doubt that only good things will follow those who work for success early in their careers. Speaking of his time in student government, Hashimi says, "I hope this is a successful pilot."