Two Afghanis give talks in Kalispell on Tuesday night

Shaima Khinjani secretly ran a school for women and girls in her family’s basement during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

She worked for three Ministers of Women’s Affairs in the new government that formed after the Taliban fell in Afghanistan in 2001. She was also a consultant to the Gender Unit of the International Election Commission.

She has been actively involved internationally in several women’s initiatives and empowerment trainings. Her goal is to return to Afghanistan to play a role in the Afghan government.

At age 8, Faeez Akram became his family’s primary breadwinner after they fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan to escape the Taliban. But the young boy also longed to attend school, so he worked nights for his father and went to school during the day.

Akram pursued his dream of becoming a doctor and graduated from Kabul Medical University in 2009. He now wants to bring public health care to Afghanistan’s rural areas.

Khinjani and Akram will share their stories at a lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Flathead High School auditorium.

The presentation is the first in the Flathead High International Baccalaureate Programme’s International Perspectives lecture series and is being held in conjunction with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana.

The lecture is open to the public and is free.

In addition to sharing their life stories, Khinjani and Akram, both of whom work with the Mansfield Center in Missoula, will discuss the Afghan culture and their thoughts on the future of Afghanistan.

For additional information about the lecture, contact Sue Brown at 751-3501 or browns@sd5.k12.mt.us, or Kelli Higgins at 751-3478 or higginsk@sd5.k12.mt.us.