When Sofia*, 25, fled Afghanistan in August 2021, she had a bachelor’s diploma in laptop or computer science and a desire of creating internet sites that carry folks together. With assistance from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), she was in a position to restart her daily life in the United States, the place she hopes to rebuild her vocation as a computer programmer.
Sofia learned laptop or computer science when she was in 11th quality. She states that the self-control “assists introduce individuals to the environment and present them what is happening.” 
Picture: Andrew Oberstadt for the IRC
The U.S. has welcomed around 74,000 Afghan refugees given that the change in power in August 2021. Several of these refugees were being compelled to flee the only residences they experienced at any time regarded.
The IRC has been supporting Afghans like Sofia throughout the state, welcoming them to U.S. governing administration-operate “Safe Havens” the place they get temporary lodging, food items and clinical care. When they go away the Safe Havens, the IRC can help quite a few of them obtain housing, work, health and fitness care and other necessities.
In this article is Sofia’s story.
How did you become interested in laptop or computer science?
I was in 11th quality when just one of my classmates instructed me about a course on Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Most of us did not have obtain to desktops at that time, but we ended up determined to consider the study course.
Immediately after graduating superior college, I made the decision to continue on my review in this industry since I experienced grown incredibly fond of it. I was fascinated in producing internet websites that other individuals could learn from and use freely.
What was your university encounter like in Afghanistan?
For the first two a long time, I was in a authorities faculty and afterward I analyzed in a private college for two decades. My male classmates in Afghanistan confronted me numerous situations, expressing that personal computer science was a occupation not meant for women, and that I required to decide for a profession “designed” for women. I was bullied and discriminated from. They were being not prepared to rely me in their team.
With all of that hardship, I did not yield. I did not lose my hope and I required to go ahead. I afterwards transferred to a personal college, the place half the learners have been woman.
I did not yield. I did not drop my hope and I wanted to go forward.
There are a variety of road blocks against female education and learning in Afghanistan, which include lack of relatives and local community aid, colleges that are far absent, and a absence of feminine instructors. Personally, I did have my family’s support but I did not have the assistance of the normal modern society.
“I want to be a individual who can help some others,” Sofia stated. “I want to locate methods 