2020 Inter-Regional Winter Sports & Leadership Week: "Nothing is Impossible
Before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and physical distancing measures were implemented, Free to Run organized its 4th annual Inter-Regional Winter Sports & Leadership Week. Nineteen participants from our Western Afghanistan, Northern Afghanistan, Southern Afghanistan, and Kabul programs joined our Central Highlands program to try out skiing, ice skating, and other winter sports.
held our 4th annual Inter-Regional Winter Sports & Leadership Week. Nineteen participants from Free to Run programs across Afghanistan came together to try out skiing, ice skating, and other winter sports, all for the very first time. For most, this was also their first time on an airplane and their first time trip without their families.
For most, this was their very first time: “When I saw other girls able to ski so well, I became really interested and wanted to try it,” said Zeinab from our Kabul program.
First Experiences
Over the course of seven days, participants experienced the following firsts:
First time skiing: 19 participants
First time ice skating: 19 participants
First time on an airplane: 15 participants
First time in the Central Highlands: 14 participants
First time visiting another province: 5 participants
First trip without their family: 16 participants
First time meeting girls from another province: 11 participants
Free to Run works to support women and girls in areas of conflict because they are the most affected by the conflict. Constantly shoved out of public space and told they should stay home, the women and girls of Afghanistan hold the potential to better their country. However, it is not being utilized.
The Inter-Regional Sports & Leadership Week is a place where participants can come together from different provinces to build leadership and teamwork skills together, while engaging in new sports.
“When I was a child, I really wanted to ride a bicycle. In my province, we can’t do such things. When we came here and we were able to cycle in the open on a long road, it gave me a positive energy that I will take back home with me,” said Mahnaz from Northern Afghanistan.
Creating Connections
As part of the leadership and team building effort, participants were mixed with girls from other provinces to room together. This was a challenge at first, particularly for girls who had never traveled without their families, but their sports connection quickly made them part of the Free to Run family.
“We were so nervous about girls from other provinces. We thought we would all fight one another and didn’t know how we would spend one night with one another. Now, it’s completely different. They are girls just like us,” said a participant from Kabul.
Even those who had traveled without their families before acknowledged the special experience.
“It was not my first trip, but this was different. I met girls from all different provinces. I really liked how Free to Run made us share rooms with girls from other provinces because it made us talk with one another and become close friends,” said Najma from Southern Afghanistan.
Changing Views
Our participants were able to connect the power of sports to life lessons this week. They faced challenges together and learned how to overcome them. They took skiing and ice skating lessons. By the end of the week, they had learned how to skate comfortably and ski down a small slope and stop.
“I learned that it doesn’t matter how you fall in ice skating. What matters is how you stand up. No matter how much I fall down in life, I will always stand up,” said Freshta from Northern Afghanistan.
Falling down together and helping one another up quickly broke down barriers.
“I learned that when we meet new kinds of people, we don’t have the right to judge them. We can’t think they are a fighter or a bad person, we have to get to know them first. We judged the girls from the other provinces at first, but found out we were wrong,” said Shegofa.
Weeks like this are important for more than the changes participants witness in themselves. When they return home, they share their experiences with their families and communities to change their perceptions.
“When I go home, I’ll talk about the culture I learned about in other provinces from my teammates here,” said Nabila from Southern Afghanistan.
“I’ll tell my family not to judge people without communicating with them first,” said Setayush from Western Afghanistan.
But it’s not just perceptions of people from different backgrounds the group resolved to change. During a group discussion, the team talked about how learning how to ice skate and ski changed what they thought they were allowed to do in society.
“I’ll go home and tell my friends that when they fall down in life, they always need to stand up. I’ll tell them that nothing is impossible,” said Usra from Northern Afghanistan.
