Women from Afghanistan restart their education in Wales after motherhood

  • ITV Wales' journalist Shivangi Pandey spoke to Shabnam and Tamana about their journey

Families who left Afghanistan for Wales almost 15 years ago have been restarting their education.

Kiran Cymru has been supporting Shabnam Tajpoor and Tamana Nisar Ahmed in restarting their education to become bookkeepers.

When Tamana and Shabnam got started, they had no idea how much the new challenge would offer them.

Shabnam Tajpoor came to Wales from Afghanistan in 2011. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Shabnam came to Wales from Afghanistan in 2011. She says this education has given her a lot of confidence.

She said: "I'm starting my studies after a very long time. I had dropped it because of my kids. I have three young kids, so I didn't continue and after a long time, I've started my studies now.

"I didn't know too much about it but I really enjoyed it. I don't know but I think my future is very bright, maybe I'll do lots of things in the future."

Kiran Cymru is a grassroots charity which provides free services to families including education for children and adults, such as bookkeeping and computer programming like Python training.

Tamana came to Wales from Afghanistan 15 years ago with her husband.

Tamana Nisar Ahmed came to Wales 15 years ago with her husband to start her new life. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

She said: "I joined Kiran Cymru straight after lockdown. I was looking for something that the whole family can join in, including the children and adults altogether.

"They are supporting us and they are giving us chances to improve our life and to become the best of who we are."

But building trust was not easy for the founders of the charity, who want to empower more families.

Building trust with the community was not easy for Kiran Cymru's founders, Anirban and Tamasree Mukhopadhyay. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Co-founder Anirban Mukhopadhyay said: "People will trust you and think that it is worthy of giving you their time for taking our services only when they have seen the benefit of taking our services before their eyes."

Kiran Cymru's Tamasree Mukhopadhyay said: "We looked after these families as their own family and we built up their confidence gradually.

"It takes longer to build up the trust first. So, we can tell them 'look, you are comfortable' and 'look, anything that you have got in your mind you can share'."

While balancing studying alongside motherhood, Tamana and Shabnam' children say they are proud of what their mums are achieving.

  • Tamana and Shabnam's children say they are proud of their mums.

Shabnam's son said: "I'm very proud of her because she has always been there for me and I really love her for it."

Tamana's daughter said: "She keeps up with her education and also giving my education importance as well."

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