Shabana Basij-Rasikh -Nat Geo Explorer of the Year

<p class="MsoNormal" style= "line-height: 20.4pt; margin: 15.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;"><span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Circular Std Book',sans-serif;">I first heard</span> <span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Circular Std Book',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Shabana Basij-Rasikh</span> <span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Circular Std Book',sans-serif;">share her moving story on 60 Minutes, and I knew I had to have her on Chatter that Matters. You will soon hear why National Geographic named her their Explorer of the Year. Shabana calls herself an ordinary Afghan woman, but I see her as a hero of immense courage and fortitude and one of the many brave women defying the tyrannical rule of the Taliban.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style= "line-height: 20.4pt; margin: 15.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;"><span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Circular Std Book',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> What we take for granted, Shabana and others risked their lives for. At age 6, defying the Taliban's desire to commoditize women, Shabana disguised herself as a boy to attend secret schools with her sister. They faced constant threats, the risk of acid being thrown at them. Their teachers could be beheaded.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style= "line-height: 20.4pt; margin: 15.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;"><span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Circular Std Book',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Shabana seized the chance to freely study in her home country and then the US. While studying overseas, Shabana co-founded SOLA, an all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style= "line-height: 20.4pt; margin: 15.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;"><span style= "