First Afghan female pilot visits homeland
KABUL: An Afghan-American female pilot on a solo flight around the world seeking to inspire young women, has taken a detour to visit her native Afghanistan – and meet the president and civil society activists seeking to safeguard women’s rights.
Shaesta Waiz, 29, left her single-engine plane in Dubai to take a commercial flight to Kabul. She said her Beechcraft Bonanza A36 was not suited for flying over Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain.
Waiz, the first female pilot from Afghanistan, began her journey in Florida, US, in May and has made stops in 11 countries, with eight more to go.
“The purpose is not to set a world record,” Waiz said. “The purpose is to inspire young girls and boys to believe in themselves, to believe in what they are capable of doing, regardless of where they are from or the challenges you have faced in your life.”
President Ashraf Ghani welcomed Waiz at his office later in the evening and told her how much he admired her courage. Waiz, in turn, promised Afghan women that once her world trip was over, she would come back and find ways to help them.
Much has changed for Afghan women since the Taliban were ejected from power 16 years ago. During their rule, women could not attend school or work, were largely confined to their homes, and subject to public beatings for violations of rules on what they could wear in public.
Now, millions of girls go to school compared with practically none in 2001, and many women work for the government and security services, run their own businesses, and are elected into parliament.
In 1987, Waiz and her family moved to the US where she got her pilot’s licence, becoming the youngest certified female pilot from Afghanistan.
She took off from Daytona Beach and has mapped out a route that will take her about 25 800km around 19 countries before going back to the US in August.
Waiz’s father, Fahim Waiz Atghandiwal, who accompanied her on the visit to Kabul, said every girl needed the support of her family to turn dreams into reality.
After returning to Dubai, Waiz said she would continue her voyage to India as she sought to become the first Afghan-American woman to accomplish a solo flight around the world.