Afghan woman cradling baby during university exam
Afghan farmer Jahantab Ahmadi cradles baby during university exam Afghan farmer Jahantab Ahmadi has her baby resting in her lap as she focuses on the university entrance exam she hopes will help her fulfil her dreams. The photo was taken by a professor at Nasir Khusraw private university in central Afghanistan. While most women are illiterate and treated as second-class citizens in Afghan, this picture has sparked an outpouring of admiration and offers of financial help for her. She is a 25-year-old mother of three children. While she was writing her paper the infant started crying due to ear ache, to keep her quiet and not disturb others, Ahmadi sat on the ground in the shade of another person -- and kept writing. "I don't want to be deprived of my studies," Ahmadi, who comes from a remote farming village in Daikundi province where wheat, corn and potatoes provide a meagre income, told AFP in Kabul. "I want to work outside the house. I want to become a doctor, someone who serves women in my community or society." An online GoFundMe campaign launched by the Afghan Youth Association to help pay for her university fees has so far raised more than $14,000 — a fortune in a country where about 39 percent of the population lives in poverty. "My friends in the village told me 'you have been photographed'. I said 'how did I not know that I was being photographed and they said 'you were concentrating on the paper," she said, smiling shyly. "I had to concentrate on the baby and do the paper," she said. "My life goal was to get admitted into university," said Ahmadi, who finished high school after she got married at the age of 18. -PTC News
