How Michigan State University helped 77 Afghans escape the Taliban

When Sara Qaderi enrolled in a Michigan State University program designed to train Afghan wheat researchers at Kabul University, she thought she was destined for a career helping farmers cope with Afghanistan’s arid climate.

It’s important work in a country where wheat shortages are a leading cause of hunger and economic instability. Qaderi never imagined it would put a target on her back.

But in July, as the U.S. military was withdrawing from Afghanistan, Taliban forces were already surging through the country’s outer provinces, and had begun to single out women like Qaderi.

The religious fundamentalist group saw Qaderi’s affiliation with MSU’s Grain Research and Innovation project, or GRAIN — which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development — as a threat.

Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/how-michigan-state-university-helped-77-afghans-escape-taliban