Young Afghan women conquer the Mournes

Young Afghan women conquer the Mournes

25 May 2022

SATURDAY, May 7, was another dark day for Afghanistan as the Taliban intensified their assault on women’s rights, decreeing that women must wear a full head-to-toe burqa, and be chaperoned by men, when in public. 

On the very same day, a group of 20 young Afghan women made a mockery of the Taliban’s views by conquering the Mourne Mountains in style. 

The women, aged mostly between 15 and 22, are associated with the Ascend charity, which was set up in 2015 to empower girls through mountaineering-based leadership training.

The charity’s programmes develop the girls’ personal courage, confidence and skill, while also fostering community service. Its mountaineering trips enable girls to test their limits and achieve new heights together.

One of Ascend’s members became the first Afghan woman to summit the country’s highest mountain, Mt Noshaq (7,492 metres) in 2018. These visible successes make statements about the capability of girls in Afghanistan — and everywhere. 

When the Taliban violently retook control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Ascend girls were thrust into immediate danger, as their activities are the antithesis to the Taliban worldview. The Taliban have since banned education for girls, refused women’s participation in sports and even segregated parks.

Many Ascend girls are from the Hazara minority, which the Taliban persistently persecutes. In the 1990s, the Taliban even blockaded UN humanitarian assistance from reaching Hazara areas to starve any resistance into submission. Hazaras are again bearing the brunt of the current humanitarian crisis. 

Wary of reprisals, Ascend scrambled to evacuate its members when the Taliban returned. Volunteers in Ireland offered safe haven and secured visas for 20 girls. Within weeks, two groups were evacuated to Galway and Dublin. One group was even taken in by the Dominican convent in Wicklow. 

The evacuation did not end Ascend’s desire to empower the Afghan ladies. It made bolstering their courage even more imperative, given that most girls came to Ireland alone, as Ascend could not evacuate entire families.

Having spent seven years in Afghanistan, working within NATO and other organisations, I was closely involved in the Western evacuation processes after Kabul’s collapse last year — which is how I came into contact with Ascend. Being from Ballynahinch, I am also a lover of the Mournes and would spend most of my holiday leave in the mountains when I came home from Afghanistan – there is no better place to decompress and refresh.

So it was only a matter of time before a plan was hatched to bring the Ascend girls to our majestic Mournes. They all travelled north on Friday, May 6, to stay at the Hutt Hostel in Newcastle. After a sunrise start, they spent Saturday summiting Slieve Commedagh, Slieve Bearnagh and Slieve Donard before a well-earned, home-cooked Afghan Biryani at the hostel. 

The weather thankfully improved for the weekend, giving the girls great views over the mountains, County Down and the Irish Sea. They also enjoyed learning local history, including how smugglers used the Brandy Pad to evade customs and how Slieve Donard got its name from St Donard.

Folklore also featured heavily, including stories about Kathleen of Commedagh, who lived among the so-called ‘Castles of Commedagh’ that were supposedly chiselled for her by a group of fairies.

Throughout the 12-mile hike, the girls also kept the group entertained with their experiences in Ireland, including their observation that Galway’s sheep understand English but not Persian. Others talked of how they are being welcomed into Irish life.

Whether it is a job in a Centra deli, an internship at a law firm, a soon-to-start journalism course, or big dreams about opening a range of Afghan restaurants, the majority are starting to stand on their own two feet just months after arriving here, without speaking the language and having lost almost everything they have ever known in their own country. 

What is not lost on any of them is the hardship ahead for Afghanistan, their families and their friends who did not have the opportunity to leave. The Ascend ladies know that they have a lifeline while most other Afghan girls have had their pathways to freedom and education slammed shut.

They also know that what they do with Ascend is more important than ever. Their activities demonstrate the capabilities of Afghan women. They become role models. They provide a counterweight to the Taliban’s gender apartheid. 

We should be proud that County Down and the Mourne Mountains played a small role in that effort.