Check out this story in the debut Godmother print zine Issue 0.

When young Ayda Haydarpour was in the eighth grade, she wanted to learn about robotics and the world of tech. Born in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, there were several setbacks she would have to overcome to make her dream come true. 

For young girls in Afghanistan, education is a privilege, and having access to it has always been an aspiration. Facing family opposition, backlash from society, and threats to their life, it’s a hefty price to pay. To imagine that a young girl like her could make a difference in the world was just the starting point of a journey that has now made history. 

It was an encounter with Roya Mahboob that sparked the journey of a lifetime, not just for Ayda, but for several other girls. As Afghanistan’s first female tech CEO, Mahboob knew exactly what it felt like to dare and dream under a regime that did not allow women to pursue education: “When I was growing up under the Taliban, dreaming was something very simple. It wasn’t about big ambitions or careers, my dream was just to go to school. To sit in a classroom, to learn, to have books like other children. As a girl, even that felt out of reach at times, and so dreaming meant holding onto the idea that one day I could learn freely.” 

Defying Limits, Rewriting Destiny

Mahboob co-founded the Digital Citizen Fund in 2013 and built IT centres in public schools, teaching girls basic computer skills, coding, entrepreneurship, and bitcoin. When she received a call from Dean Kamen, founder of the non-profit FIRST Global, to consider sending a team from Afghanistan to participate in the FIRST Global Challenge in 2017, Mahboob immediately got to work.

A hundred and fifty students took the exam to participate in the competition, 20 were selected, and, finally, six girls were chosen based on passport availability and family permission for a trip to participate in the inaugural competition in Washington DC, USA.

Recalling just what this meant for the girls, Mahboob explains, “It was not just about winning. It was about learning, being part of something bigger, and proving to themselves and to others that they belong in this space.” 

Identity, Belonging, and Acceptance

FIRST Global’s mission is to inspire innovation and support young talent with STEM education, and the Challenge unites young people aged 5 to 18 from more than 100 countries. Not only do they compete against young people from all over the world, they demonstrate applicability in the solutions they offer based on the theme of the competition. 

The all-girls Afghan Robotics team was competing against 163 teams, representing 157 countries, in 2017. This was their moment to show the world who they were. The pressure was not easy to deal with, yet they put their best effort forward. The result was winning the silver medal for Courageous Achievement. 

“I was proud to be a captain and the programmer of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team. Even during difficult times, dreaming gave me hope, because it allowed me to see beyond the present and focus on what we knew was possible,” shares Ayda. 

Building a Cultural Legacy 

To fight for something is to give it permanence – to anchor it within a broader narrative of belonging and identity, shaping not only personal legacy but collective identity. 

For the Afghan Dreamers, as they became known, this collective identity is a testimony that technology is sovereignty, and when women become torchbearers, they direct it towards a greater good. Roya Mahboob’s vision was to give young female talents from her country the wings to fly, and the courage to imagine a life beyond their present situation. 

Female-focused and driven by passion and purpose, the story that unfolded with these young girls was one of gender equality, human rights, and the education to empower and inspire young women facing societal pressures. This was a collective identity that was being shaped under fire. It was also a fight for survival – the survival of culture, talent, and ambition in pursuit of a better tomorrow for all humanity, especially underprivileged societies that faced a similar reality. 

The girls that were coming forward to participate in the competitions battled with mounting mental and emotional pressure, with one of them losing their father at the hands of ISIS soon after the first competition. Mahboob worked closely with the girls and their families through the most challenging times, recalling how their unrelenting spirit eventually began to inspire others in the country and community. “What we saw over time was very powerful. When families saw their daughters learning, building robots, traveling, representing Afghanistan, their mindset started to change. Slowly, people began to believe in what these girls could do.” 

The Godmother: Roya Mahboob

A true Godmother in every sense of the word, Mahboob was more than a mentor. She eventually became a beacon of hope for the girls and their families. 

Each of the six girls dealt with uncertainty over their future. Mahboob believes that the problem was never about talent or purpose, it was access to opportunities, basic rights, and the ability to be seen for who they are: “The Afghan Dreamers became more than just a team. They became a symbol of hope for many people in Afghanistan. People saw them and felt proud. They saw what these girls could achieve. The girls always tried to work on things that were connected to real life.”

For these young women, their dreams were fuelled by a service towards humanity, to improve the quality of life for those who faced similar challenges due to war, poverty, or civil unrest. “We aim to transform the culture of our community through the STEM program and become some of the young leaders of science and technology,” they said in their team biography, and those words sealed their fate. Theirs was now a destiny that inspired young women who refused to be silenced by patriarchy, religious edicts, or political regimes. 

“We want to make a difference, and most breakthroughs in science, technology, and other industries normally start with the dream of a child to do something great. We want to be that child and pursue our dreams to make a difference in people’s lives,” said the girls in a joint statement after their first competition. They made news headlines, which was a first for Afghan women, as they were restricted from publicity and media appearances. 

Making the World a Better Place 

At 2017’s Robotex Festival in Estonia, they designed and built a solar-powered robot that would sow seeds and cut crops. During the COVID pandemic, the team developed an affordable ventilator using scrap parts of a car and motorcycle, and a UVC robot to help disinfect hospitals. They wanted to help their country save lives, creating a cost-effective solution using material that was easily available. They were doing just what they had dreamed of: “to make a difference in people’s lives.”  

“They also explored ways to use robotics for landmine detection, which is something that still affects many communities,” shares Mahboob. “Because of their work, even the previous government started paying attention. They gave 10 acres of land to build what would have been the first robotics and AI institute in Afghanistan. That was a big moment. It showed that people were starting to invest in the future of young people, including girls.” That shift was very important. After so many years of ignoring women in science and technology, suddenly people were seeing their potential in a different way.” 

Winning awards in Canada, Dubai, Singapore, and California, the team has seen many more young women joining the Afghan Dreamers. 

The Ripple Effect

Stories of perseverance often inspire others to push forward during times of adversity, and the ripple effect of one story can have a lasting impact on generations. Inspired by the lives of the first team of Afghan Dreamers, an MTV documentary was released in 2023 on Paramount Plus. This was soon followed with a movie released by Angel Studios in 2025. Directed by Oscar-winning writer-producer-director Bill Guttentag, and produced by Roya and Elaha Mahboob, the movie follows the journey of the women as they defy the norms that dictate the existence of women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. With Elaha Mahboob, Roya’s sister, playing one of the characters, and featuring several clips from the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge, it adds a profound sense of realism in depicting their story.

Beacons of Light

The Afghan Dreamers continue to win hearts all over the world. Today, there are countless Afghan girls who have been inspired by the story and have embraced STEM skills, coding, robotics, and AI in the hopes of finding solutions that the world can benefit from, refusing to give up on the right to education. Solving real-life problems, innovating for their community, and building robots that tackle global challenges, the first Afghan Dreamers have set the stage for the next generations to come. 

14-year-old Ghazel Salehi, the team captain at the 2025 FIRST Global Challenge, is aware of this legacy, saying, “I feel lucky to lead this team, especially now. Many girls my age are not allowed to go to school, and that’s always in my mind. So every time we work on our robots, it feels like we are speaking for them too, showing the world that Afghan girls can learn, lead, and create.”

Since the Taliban takeover and the ban on education for girls, even those who were studying have had to stop schooling. Afghanistan now has the lowest female literacy rate in the world, and the Afghan girls now living outside the country and pursuing an education are the only hope for those still within.

The five girls from the 2025 team are part of the Afghan refugee community and are resettled across countries, including Canada, Sweden, and Italy, adding value to the global community. “They are actively working on robotics and STEM innovation, collaborating on designing and building robots that address global challenges particularly environmental sustainability, in line with this year’s competition theme,” shares Mahboob.

It is on this legacy that they move forward, exploring AI applications in robotics, developing solutions to support underserved regions, while continuing to stand as a symbol of hope and inspiration for girls all over the world.