Video Summary - How I Stopped the Taliban from Shutting Down My School | Sakena Yacoobi

Summary of the TED Talk (Sakena Yacoobi): “How I Stopped the Taliban from Shutting Down My School”

Sakena Yacoobi recounts how her personal history and experiences in refugee camps led her to build education and healthcare programs for girls and women in Afghanistan—despite repeated threats from the Taliban and other armed groups.

Early Life and Motivation

Yacoobi describes a difficult childhood shaped by violence and displacement for Afghan women and children, including relatives being taken to burial sites.
She wanted to become a doctor and pursue university education, but faced barriers in Afghanistan—particularly the lack of a girls’ dormitory.
She was sent to the United States for education. While studying, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan occurred, and her family was trapped in refugee status.

Work in Refugee Camps (Pakistan) and the Power of Education

After finishing her education, she brought her family to safety and returned emotionally to Afghanistan’s crisis.
She worked in Pakistan’s refugee camps, describing mass suffering—widows with many children, young people forced into adult responsibility, and widespread lack of education and security.
She concludes that education transformed her life (status, confidence, career, and ability to support her family) and decided to bring that same transformation to her people.
She argues that girls’ education was essential not only for individual futures, but also as a foundation for health and social stability.

Building Schools Despite Distrust and Taliban Bans

Yacoobi emphasizes that girls’ schooling was banned at the time, and that she faced skepticism because she was “someone who comes from the United States.”
To overcome resistance, she earned local trust by engaging a respected elder—an 80-year-old mullah—and persuading him to allow her to teach, starting her program inside his compound.
Within a year, her effort expanded rapidly: many schools opened and tens of thousands of children attended.

Direct Confrontation with Taliban Members

During the height of danger, her staff warned her to hide when Taliban fighters came to her office.
Taliban leaders questioned her for teaching girls and demanding she stop.
She responded with strategic framing—portraying learning as connected to Quran study in a house setting rather than openly framed as “girls’ schooling.”
The Taliban men eventually left after internal deliberation, and her staff realized she had survived a high-risk encounter.

Continuing Education Underground and After Taliban Collapse

She describes how, during Taliban rule, her organization moved underground to keep educating girls.
After the Taliban fell, she expanded openly: reopening schools, establishing women’s learning centers, running clinics, and providing training including reproductive health.

Another Armed Stop—Then Turning Captors into Allies

Later, while traveling north of Kabul, she was stopped by 19 armed young men with rifles.
She believed they intended to kill her, but they instead demanded an opportunity for themselves—saying they only knew armed violence as their “life skill.”
When her organization lacked resources beyond women-focused training, her response was uncertain—until a donor call shifted the situation.
On a subsequent route, she negotiated with the armed group by bringing them to a mosque and offering them teachers and training.
She ultimately converted them into guides and trainers: they learned English, taught skills and computers, and helped her safely reach and expand services in remote areas.

Core Message: Education Changes Power Dynamics and Requires Gender Equality

Yacoobi argues that educating women alone is insufficient; men also must be educated because men are often the main barrier to women’s freedom.
She highlights that when both genders are trained, women can pursue professional roles (lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers) and build businesses.
She reflects on how Afghanistan shifted from a period of relative peace and openness—women educated and families safe—to one shaped by security fears, and insists that the earlier potential can be restored.
Her closing themes emphasize compassion, trust, love, and honest commitment as practical tools for social change.

“Education changes power dynamics” — and meaningful progress requires educating both women and the men who can block their freedom.

Presenters / Contributors

Sakena Yacoobi (speaker)

How I Stopped the Taliban from Shutting Down My School | Sakena Yacoobi | TED Talks

Key takeaways