Richmond's first Afghan student focuses on women's rights
For as long as she can remember, Muska Assad, ’09, has loved politics and law. She set her sights on college at an early age, a goal that sounds attainable enough. But for Assad, who grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, there was a lot to overcome before she found herself at Richmond as the University’s first Afghan student.
When Assad was 10 years old, the civil war in Afghanistan drove her and her family to neighboring Pakistan, where they lived until she finished high school. But obtaining higher education in Pakistan proved to be challenging. The quality of education in public schools versus private vastly differed, as did the price. Assad’s parents, who were both educated in the Soviet Union and hold master’s degrees, supported and encouraged her but could not afford what a good education would cost.
In 2003, Assad and her family moved back to Afghanistan, where there was no opportunity to continue her education. Not willing to give up on her dream, Assad joined the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a New York-based humanitarian aid organization that serves Afghanistan and Sudan. As an administrative manager, Assad traveled to some of the country’s poorest regions, learning how IRC provided aid such as healthcare and education to Afghanistan’s citizens.
“I saw a lot of women in really vulnerable situations,” she said. “Many people in Afghanistan are deprived of basic human rights but especially women. It’s sad to see.”
A few months later, Assad began work in the human resources department of USAID. There she made a network of international friends, and in 2005, through connections, she heard about the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (IEAW). Founded by Paula Nirschel in 2002, the organization was started after Nirschel learned that the Taliban denied education to Afghan women. IEAW works to secure four-year scholarships for Afghan women to study at American universities.
Assad’s friends encouraged her to apply for a scholarship. Impressed with Assad’s resume and essays, the organization’s director accepted her application, one of only 22 girls accepted that year. It was the acceptance of her relatives and parents’ friends, though, that proved harder to gain.
“Most Afghan families don’t send girls abroad for education,” said Assad.
Relatives and friends voiced their fears to her parents. They were concerned about Assad going to school in the West in such a different culture and so far away from home. Assad says that her parents, however, were unwavering in their support and trusted her decision.
Assad enrolled at the University of Richmond as a freshman in the fall of 2005.
“It was really difficult at first, being so far away from home,” she said. “It was a hard decision, but I knew I had made the right one. It was worth that initial homesickness to be able to finally go to college in the United States.”
As for her majors, political science was the natural choice, but Assad also gravitated toward international studies. With two majors that overlap frequently, she especially enjoys the chance to see how politics and law work on an international scale. She also started taking Arabic language classes.
During the summers, when she returned home, Assad interned with the Department of Justice at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. She worked with three of the department’s attorneys on narcotics and drug trafficking cases, specifically on drafting counter narcotics laws. She also had the opportunity to once again travel through the country, where she again saw Afghan women living in oppression.
“These issues exist in every part of Afghanistan. A very small percentage of people are from educated families and I’m fortunate to be part of that percent,” she said. “I really want to use the education I have gained at Richmond to make a difference.”
Now a senior, Assad plans to go on to law school, where it seems natural that her focus will be on the rights of her country’s women and children. When she returns to Afghanistan, she hopes to work with the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.