“I have been given a chance… and I will not waste it”
At the recent Scholars’ Chapel, we celebrated our students who receive financial aid – 36 per cent of the School – and the donors who make scholarships and bursaries possible. Among the students invited to speak at the Chapel was Sadaf Nikfar, a student from Afghanistan who is attending Shawnigan as part of our partnership with Women Leaders of Tomorrow, who reflected on the opportunities she has at Shawnigan that she wouldn’t have had in her native Afghanistan.
First, a quote: “The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he’s in prison.” That was exactly how it was for me in Afghanistan. For a long time, I did not even realize that I lacked freedom. I thought that was simply how life was supposed to be.
It was only after coming to Canada that I began to see the difference. Here, people are able to live freely, to learn, to dream, and to use their time in ways that truly give meaning to life. It then became clear how much of my potential had been wasted. I can now see how much more I could have become as a child if a terrorist group had not stolen my rights and denied me the chance to live a normal life.
What will always stay with me is the wasted potential of Afghan girls. They do not get the opportunity to learn, to grow, or to experience life beyond the walls of their homes. They are made to believe that this is normal. They stay inside all day, they are denied education, and they are often pushed into forced marriages at a very young age. That is why I often wonder why people do not talk about Afghan women anymore. It has been years since Afghan girls were banned from learning, yet the world has become quiet. They are no longer on the news. It almost feels as if people have accepted the idea that women do not need an education, as if this kind of injustice is normal.
To all the women in this room, and to the Afghan girls watching me on livestream, I want to say, stay strong. That may sound like a cliché, but strength means something different for everyone. Being strong means continuing to learn and improve even though there is a war going on in my country. It means staying strong when I am not sure if my family is safe back home. It means staying strong after reading the daily news about Afghanistan.
Like other Afghan girls, I was denied an education for a long time. Now that I am learning again, I can see the huge gap between my knowledge and skills and those of my peers here at Shawnigan. But I have never told myself that I cannot do it. I remember the first day I joined cross country running. I had never done any kind of running before. Still, I was confident and went to the provincial championships only three days later. Of course, I did not do well in that race. I could not even finish it. But instead of telling myself that I was incapable, I saw it as motivation to improve. I started practicing consistently, and eventually I was able to run a 10K race and get second place among girls aged 16 to 19. I am still not the fastest runner, but I will do my best to never give up and to show the world what women can do when they are given the opportunity.
I want to thank Shawnigan and the donors for opening their doors to me, for giving me the opportunity to study, and for bringing me closer to the future I have always dreamed of. Because while girls in Afghanistan are silenced, I have been given a voice. While millions are denied an education, I have been given a chance.
And I will not waste it.
Sadaf Nikfar is a Grade 11 student at Shawnigan Lake School.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 12 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
