March 25, 2024

Nabila Painda gives a firsthand account of escaping the harsh rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan in a three-part series “Nabila’s Journey,” that was published in the Claremont Courier. She begins her story when she was 8 and the Taliban took over and barred girls from school. Her mother joined other brave women to start an underground school for girls, but one day Nabila watched in horror as the Taliban came and shot the women. Her mother survived, and the family fled to Pakistan for five years, returning to Afghanistan after the Taliban was removed from power. Nabila became a teacher and then a principal of a school for girls.  But in 2021 when U.S. forces left Afghanistan, the Taliban returned. In the Courier articles, Nabila writes about how her family escaped again, eventually ending up in the Inland Valley.  NAC helped the Painda family when they arrived in Claremont, and we are proud of its accomplishments. We hope you will read all three parts of Nabila’s powerful story of courage and determination. Her story represents one of the many families NAC serves.