When I saw Zahra sitting in the Poudre High School library
over four years ago, something inside me was compelled to speak to her. I didn’t
know, at that time, but I was seeing someone who would change my life. Zahra
Yousofi was one of the members of YES Afghanistan 2010-2011, the last YES group
from Afghanistan. I was a high school student unsatisfied with the day to day
conversations of most of my peers.
Zahra and I, we talked. We talked about love, life,
Afghanistan, God, women’s rights, and so many other things. We roamed Bellvue,
Colorado, just west of my hometown, Laporte, admiring the beauty of the place.
We really only hung out for a few months, lamenting, as exchange students often
do, that we hadn’t connected earlier. But after going home to Afghanistan for
the summer and spending a semester at boarding school in New Jersey, Zahra came
to Colorado to visit. Inspired by her, I was on the application journey for YES
Abroad. Ever since then, I’ve know that the end of an exchange does not mark the
end of a friendship. Exchange is the catalyst for life-long friendships. After
returning from Ghana, my American friends grew distant, in a way. I always knew
I could call Zahra if I needed her.
Zahra and I have always laughed about the diversity of our
backgrounds (one the one hand) and the alignment of our interests (on the
other). Even our names are similar (people with certain accents call us both
Sah-ra). We are both sophomores in college now in different parts of the United
States. After not talking for a year, we decided to Skype two weeks ago. As I
asked Zahra about her summer plans, she described her desire to start a women’s
project in Afghanistan focused on trade education. She mentioned that if she
could, she would buy sewing machines for the women. Zahra knew she had to do
something for Afghan women, because she had made a promise. I froze, shivering
a little. Not a week before, I’d written this blog post about my NGO in Ghana,
Enliven Mama Africa: http://www.enlivenmamaafrica.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-promise.html.
(The post describes my commitment to trade education for women in Ghana, and
the promise that fueled it. Zahra had not seen any of my work related to
Enliven Mama Africa.)
It seems that our different experiences over the past few
years are driving Zahra and me in the same direction. If it were not for YES—
We might still be dreaming. Instead, we are working, with
each other’s encouragement and blessing. I have a friend loves me and who is
not afraid to challenge me.
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