The Bamyan cyclists founded and led the only women-led teams in Afghanistan. The women were scattered across the globe but most have been unable to get back on bikes. The captain needs support to study in the UK.
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Hi Everyone, Thanks to the digital publication of Kim Cross's article in Bicycling we have seen several donations come in, which is why I kept this open and extended the date and the goal. Kim and I were working on her story for almost 3 years, so once she knew this was going to publish, we wanted to make sure there was a way to build support for the cyclists, especially those from Bamyan that needed support. There are many. While Zahra, Zakia, and Reinhanna are getting the support they need thanks to the community built around them in Sweden and Germany with their evacuations and their high profiles, that is unusual. The majority of the cyclists, athletes, and human rights defenders are not as lucky. And if you have been following this story over the past three years, the evacuations have scattered the cyclists into ten different countries across Europe and North America. One is in Australia.
Most have not gotten the support they needed, and three years on, its much harder to continue to support, but as recently as October, I helped the captain of Oqab Bamyan cycling team finally get established in the UK at Dundee University. Sediqa rode with Zahra and Zakia, and she became the captain of the next generation team, I evacuated her team but she was finishing her last year of school in India at the time that the Taliban walked into Kabul. She was safe, but only for the school year. It took 3 years of uncertainty after she was dropped from the Italian evacuation list without warning, but she's now in the UK getting her second masters. Getting her airfare and visas paid for as well as temporary lodging covered were priority. She is completely on her own and has been since 2021.
Three other Hazara athletes, were resettled in Paris just before the Olympics this summer after two years of safeguarding in Pakistan. One was a para athlete wheelchair basketball player. They were abandoned by their parafederation, and the international para federation. They were also kicked off the Italian evacuation despite having been initially approved when I evacuated them out of Afghanistan. Luckily France stepped up and a humanitarian group was able to get them visas. Several incredible women in Nantes and Paris is connecting with them to build community.
A large group of cyclists played a key role in an abuse investigation during the evacuation, two are still left in Afghanistan despite having direct death threats by the President of the Afghan Cycling Federation - he has been found guilty after a 3 year investigation that I spearheaded with the help of a pro bono legal team with Hogan Lovells, and the plan is to support the remaining two cyclists - both from Bamyan - to find safety. One had their family home seized by the Taliban two weeks ago. UCI has been silent about this, despite the guilty verdict and their shielding of the abuser at UCI HQ.
Now that Bicycling Magazine has released the story about the Bamyan cycling revolution online, and is preparing to publish the print version in its magazine, I am hoping to keep the fundraiser open to support the broader group of Hazara cyclists and athletes that have needs due to their isolation or lack of resources.
One of the things you can do to help is share the story. To your friends and family and on social media. Thank you to those of you who recently donated and who may be new to this story.
Much appreciation,
Shannon
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Nov 14