How A US Woman Helped The Rescue Of Afghanistan's First All-Girls Robotics Team From Taliban

Nearly five years ago, in 2017 they created history when they won a medal at an international robotics competition held in the US.

The all-girls Afghan robotics team was hailed as pioneers and was widely seen as an inspiration for many girls in the country who wanted to get educated and build a career.

UNICEF

But the world came crashing down for them, like many in Afghanistan in the past few days after the Taliban takeover of the country.

Unlike most Afghan women, these girls can consider themselves lucky as they got out of the country in the nick of time.

The nine-member team and their teacher fled to Doha, Qatar, in a US evacuation flight.

One of them, who helped the girls to leave Afghanistan is Allyson Reneau, a 60-year-old Harvard graduate with a master's degree in international relations and US space policy.

According to The New York Post, Reneau was previously in contact with the team in 2019 when she worked on Explore Mars' board of directors.

While her attempts to reach out to politicians for help did not work out, another friend who worked in the US Embassy in Qatar stood with her and completed all the formalities, to get them out.

Oklahoma mom of 11 rescues members of Afghan all-girls robotics team https://t.co/awrsW3aANt pic.twitter.com/IqWY3Caaum

¡ª New York Post (@nypost) August 20, 2021

The girls reached Qatar on August 12, just three days ahead of Kabul's capture by the Taliban.

"It's a very narrow window of opportunity," she said. "I knew that if I didn't run through that door now ¡ª it's now or never. Sometimes you only get one chance."

The young women were able to fly out of the Kabul airport and were transported to a "secure location" in the United States, where they will pursue higher education.

UNICEF

Kimberly Motley, a US lawyer who has represented them for years told NPR that she's in close touch with the girls and their families.

"We're hopeful that they're safe. But we're really concerned with the reports that we're seeing," Motley said.

"Several members of the girls Afghan robotics team have safely arrived in Doha, Qatar, from Kabul, Afghanistan," a statement from the Digital Citizen Fund and Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The team was founded with over a dozen girls, with the support of the DCF.

According to the DCF, while most of the girls have reached Qatar, some are sill in Afghanistan.