Oklahoma Mom Helps 10 Members of All-Girls Robotics Team in Afghanistan To Get Out of the Country
Members of the Afghan all-girls robotics team, with their robot nearby, watch other country's robots in the practice area on July 17, 2017, between 2017 FIRST Global Challenge competitions at DAR Constitution Hall, in Washington, DC. A team of Afghan girls prevailed in their first encounter at an international robotics competition in Washington Monday, but the result was perhaps less significant than the fact they made it at all. Twice denied visas into the United States until a late intervention by the Trump administration, the team of six from the war-torn country's western Herat are now determined to strike a blow for gender equality and national pride. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images

An Oklahoma mom has managed to evacuate 10 girls from Afghanistan. The girls were members of the Afghan Girls Robotic Team.

According to NBC News, Allyson Reneau, an entrepreneur and author from Oklahoma City, met the girls in 2019 through her work on the board of directors for Explore Mars. She has kept in touch with the girls over the years since then.

The Oklahoma mom,60, managed to get the girls out of Afghanistan with the help of a former roommate, who wrote up a request and got all of the girls' passports together.

Reneau decided to take a "leap of faith" after she could not stop thinking about the girls when the Taliban began to take over the country. She flew to Qatar on August 9 to ask for help from her former roommate, who was transferred to Qatar a few years back.

The Oklahoma mom said the roommate went to the embassy and worked all night to prepare the documents and packets for the girls.

Reneau said they were able to get them on the U.S. military side of the airport. She then received a text saying that they were now airborne.

All-Girls Robotics Team Members

Huffington Post reported that members of the robotics team flew to Qatar and would stay there to continue their education.

Roya Mahboob, the team's tech founder, said the Taliban has vowed to allow girls to be educated to whatever extent permitted by Shariah law, which they will have to wait and see what it means.

The militant group had banned girls from attending school when it last led Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Many Afghans remained skeptical despite the leaders' promise that they will allow greater freedoms.

The robotics team, composed of girls ages 16-18, had gained public attention in 2017 when six members were denied visas to travel to the United States for a robotics competition.

They were later allowed after a public outcry through a congressional petition and intervention by former President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported.

New York-based international human rights lawyer Kimberley Motley noted that the girls were experiencing panic and uncertainty since the Taliban seized the capital.

Motley said the girls were extremely terrified. Their hometown, Herat, was turning away girls, according to a CNET report.

The universities were telling the girls not to come back to the premises, while women showing up for work were being turned away. Most of the team members were born after the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, which opened new doors, particularly to girls.

At the time, girls were free to go to school, and women were getting some opportunities that had been denied. Motley said they are hopeful that the girls are safe. However, she added that they are concerned with the reports that the girls are seeing, NPR reported.

The all-girls team had worked on a low-cost ventilator using old car parts during the COVID pandemic. The design was inspired by work on an emergency ventilator out of MIT.

The robotics team made it to Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30 list this year for their contribution.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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