Fatima Haidari: the inspiring virtual guide to Afghanistan
As a young journalism student in Herat, in northwest Afghanistan, Fatima Haidari used to host a weekly radio show “Winner Women” and worked as a tour guide. Forced to flee by the Taliban, she escaped to Italy, from where she continues her fight for freedom.
When she lived in Afghanistan, the 24-year-old studied journalism and mass communication at university in Herat and told women’s stories in her own weekly radio show called “Winner Women”.
“I collected stories of oppressed women, women who overcame taboos, boundaries and challenges to realise their dreams. I was sharing these stories with other women to create awareness and to make other women understand the value and the power of being a woman,” she tells SWI swissinfo.ch.
Before the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war in Afghanistan, Fatima was able to pay for her studies by working as a local tour guide.
“Afghanistan is so beautiful, so interesting and working as a tour guide was fascinating for me,” she says. So now, after fleeing to Italy, Haidari continues this work from Milan, offering virtual tours of her homeland.
“The image people have of my country is that of a place of terror, explosions, weapons, but Afghanistan has great places to offer the world. Even if the image is negative, I want to show the other side of Afghanistan, its culture and its people,” she says.
Once or twice a month, she takes a dozen people on a 1.5-hour online tour to Afghanistan. She uses half of the money she earns from the tours to support herself and the rest goes towards English courses for Afghan women that are held in secret.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.