Afghan girl’s journey: University to Hospital bed
A year ago, Medina used to sit on the university bench, listening to her professor’s lecture on communication within the journalism field, diligently pursuing her university studies. However, today, I found her lying on the hospital bed, struggling with severe weakness, pregnancy complications, and depression.
She lay motionless on the hospital bed, appearing disinterested in any conversation. I sat beside her, hoping she would open up and share the pains that had brought her to this point.
When the university entrance exam results were announced, Medina was accepted into the journalism program at Kabul University. It was everything she had wished for: “I joined the university, and every day I went to class with great enthusiasm. I didn’t have a camera for practical work, but my mother, who was my sole supporter, sold her jewelry to buy me a camera.”
Her father and brothers believed she had studied enough and that university education was not suitable for her. However, her mother supported her tirelessly until the Taliban administration came into power, and Medina’s mother could no longer support her daughter’s education.
Medina says, “When I saw female reporters on television delivering news, my heart would swell with joy. I always envisioned myself in the newsroom or the field, preparing reports.”
Medina continued, “When the order to close universities was issued, it felt like a death sentence for millions of girls who were living in this shattered world. Since then, there hasn’t been a single day when I felt genuinely happy.”
Medina is one of the victims of forced marriage. According to her, three months after the university closure, “My father arranged my engagement to his nephew. We remained engaged for several months, and eventually, the wedding day arrived, a day that was never a priority in my plans and life.”
During this time, Medina fell into severe depression, and now, in her weakened state and poor mental condition, she lies bedridden in the hospital, unable to eat nourishing food due to the effects of depression-induced weakness, causing concern among the hospital staff.
Medina states, “Even before marriage, I was suffering from chronic depression, and after the wedding, pregnancy complications were added. This past year has been so difficult and painful for me that I feel I have aged and weakened like my mother.”
Medina’s mother says, “If the university hadn’t closed, my daughter would be sitting in a classroom today, passing her exams, not lying in a hospital bed in this condition.”
Medina’s mother only thought about her daughter’s education, but the circumstances were beyond her control. According to her, Medina is still a child herself: “She was neither ready nor willing, but her father forced her into marriage. How can she take care of herself, let alone a child?”
Medina’s treating doctor, addressing her mental and physical condition, says, “Medina has become physically and mentally weak. Depression, anxiety, weakness, and loss of appetite, resulting from pregnancy and emotional stress, have placed her in unfavorable circumstances.”
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