The young Zahra Ali, 23, is a“Energy innovative” in your country, Afghanistanwhere he has created a unique manufacturing system of portable, clean and renewable batteries in his home in Kabul, challenging the strict measures of the Taliban.
Ali’s work stands out in a place where the mobility, education and visibility of women is severely limited by the Taliban authorities that occupy de facto power since August 2021.
“The problems that exist in my country forced me to act. One of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is the lack of electricity,” Zahra Ali to Efe told EFE in an interview.
According to Ali, a person from any remote population of Afghanistan “can have access to alternating and continuous current electricity even in the most inaccessible areas of Afghanistan with these energy banks.”
The compact batteries that Ali assembles at home can receive load by solar, wind, hydraulic energy and even by connection of vehicles.
The raid of Zahra Ali in the energy sector began by guidance of the engineer Hasibullah Naibkhil, a experienced engineer in Dubai. Together, they established a small workshop and now lead a team of fifties who handmade each device.
“Unfortunately, the rulers’ mentality in Afghanistan is that if a girl wants to work (…) they think she goes to the office with bad intentions,” he said.
To avoid harassment, Ali is often presented as Naibkhil’s wife.
“Sometimes even some officials or people call him dishonorable for taking his ‘wife’ to work,” he confessed, and said he has assured that he will never stop supporting her.
“As a child I dreamed of being a journalist (…) When I saw that schools closed, I wanted to do something for the girls not to stay behind in their online lessons and decided to create a device so they could follow their studies from anywhere,” he said.
However, financial limitations remain a great obstacle. “We cannot acquire the necessary devices,” said Zahra. “Therefore, much of the work we do by hand, which generates many waste,” Ali said.
The rights of women and girls are deeply limited by Taliban regulations since their arrival in power in August 2021.
International organizations and activists in favor of human rights have denounced the situation to which women in Afghanistan are subjected.
Afghanistan promulgated a law to “promote virtue and prevent vice”, a strict interpretation of Islamic law or Sharía, which further limits conditions for women, including their presence in public and work space or speech limitations.
