In August 2021, the first group of the Afghan Girls Robotics team arrived in Qatar with the second group joining them a year later. Qatar was a new chance for the team to resume the struggle towards their dreams. What is Afghan Girls Robotics team? And how Qatar offered them the necessary support?
Origins of the Team
The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, also known as the Afghan Dreamers, is an all-girl robotics team from Herat. The team, which was founded in 2017 by Roya Mahboob, is made up of girls between ages 12 and 18 in addition to their mentors.
Before acquiring the specific parts of the robotics, the girls received training in the basement of Mahboob’s parents using scrap in building robotics whilst lacking the safety equipment they needed. Reda Mahrban, Mahboob’s older brother, assumed the training of the team and picked out 12 members from among 150 girls who took part in the training.
In 2017, six members traveled to the United States to take part in the international FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition. The team then moved to Estonia where three of the 12 members participated in the 2017 Entrepreneurial Challenge at the Robotex festival, and won the competition for their solar-powered robot designed to assist farmers.
In 2018, the team received training in Canada, continued to travel in the US for months and participated in various competitions. The Afghan Girls Robotics team were aspiring to develop a science and technology school for girls in Afghanistan. Roya Mahboob worked with several Yale University departments to design the infrastructure for what they named The Dreamer Institute.
The team acquired numerous awards, including:
- Silver Medal in FIRST Global Challenge 2017
- Winner of entrepreneurship challenge in Robotics festival, Estonia 2017
- Asia Game Changer Award 2018
- Listed in Forbes 30 for Asians under 30s in 2021
FIRST Global Challenge 2017
In 2017, the Afghan Girls Robotics Team faced multiple challenges prior to participating in the international FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition which aims to encourage young individuals to develop their skills in engineering and technology. The US embassy initially rejected the visas of six members of the team. However, officials in the US government intervened to allow them to travel and enter the US. Obstacles, however, did not end there, as US customs officials also detained their robotics kits, which left them two weeks to construct their robot, unlike some teams that had more time. They were awarded a Silver medal for Courageous Achievement.
New invention in 2020
In March 2020, the governor of Herat at the time, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan and a scarcity of ventilators, sought help with the design of low-cost ventilators, and the Afghan Girls Robotics Team was one of six teams contacted by the government. Using a design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with guidance from MIT engineers and Douglas Chin, a surgeon in California, the team developed a prototype with Toyota Corolla parts and a chain drive from a Honda motorcycle. UNICEF also supported the team with the acquisition of necessary parts during the three months they spent building the prototype that was completed in July 2020. Their design costs around $500 compared to $50,000 for a ventilator.
In December 2020, Minister of Industry and Commerce Nizar Ahmad Ghoryani donated funding and obtained land for a factory to produce the ventilators. Under the direction of their mentor Roya Mahboob, the Afghan Dreamers also designed a UVC Robot for sanitization, and a Spray Robot for disinfection, both of which were approved by the Ministry of Health for production.
Qatar’s support to the Afghan Dreamers
On August 12, 2021, the Digital Citizen Fund (DCF) requested assistance from Qatar to host the Afghan Girls Robotics Team. The group has been in contact with a Qatari government official since Doha hosted its members in 2019.
“We contacted the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs to host the team, and they immediately began granting visas to evacuate them from Afghanistan,”
said Elizabeth Schaeffer Brown, a board member on the DCF. She stressed that it is necessary for them to continue studying.
When the girls arrived in Qatar, they were placed in three institutions according to their needs, and Qatar Foundation and Qatar Fund For Development provided them with full scholarships to world-class universities to help them continue their studies. The decision reflects Qatar’s deep commitment to ensure that children of all ages enjoy the right to education.
The girls also gathered to work on their participation in the first International Robotics Challenge competition. One team member expressed her gratitude for what Qatar had offered, saying,
“The Qatari government provided us with this opportunity to continue our educational journey so that our dreams would not evaporate,”
while another stated,
“When we arrived in Qatar, we were very happy because we felt really safe here. I have many dreams, and I can achieve them in this team.”
“Steps towards hope dispel the difficult circumstances that the Afghan Dreamers went through. We are happy to host them in Qatar’s Education City, where they will be able to continue their studies with joint educational scholarships from QFFD, our strategic partner,” the Qatar Foundation said, in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter.
In March 2022, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, announced that the Doha Forum Award would be awarded to Roya Mahboob, the team’s founder, for her great efforts in establishing the team despite the various challenges. Numerous congratulations were sent to Roya at the time from Mr. Thomas West, US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ms. Jasper Fick, Germany Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Ms. Rena Amiri, US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights.
In September 2022, a year after the first group of girls arrived, a second group of 10 girls arrived in Doha to complete their education in the Qatar Foundation’s Academic Bridge Programme.
The world commended Qatar’s role in rescuing the Afghan Girls Robotics team. The spokesperson of Digital Citizen Fund expressed gratitude to Qatar for quickly issuing visas for the girls and for sending a flight to evacuate them from Kabul.
Roaya Mahboob, the team founder, as well as the former vice president of Afghanistan’s National Assembly Fawzia Koofi, thanked the Qatari efforts to help girls resume education through scholarships given by the QFFD, and expressed special gratitude to Qatar’s assistant FM Lolwah Al-Khater for her efforts to make this process.
Qatar was the girls’ new gate to continue their education and a new opportunity towards their dreams. This was made possible by the Qatari efforts to support the Afghan refugees.
