April 20, 2021 • 9 mins
In this segment, we discuss Somaya Faruqi, the robotics team the Afghan Dreamers and the ventilator they created.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. You're welcome to stuff.
I've never told your protection of I heart radio. All right,
any Yes, I have to ask you, have you ever
attempted to make an android or a robot or anything
(00:27):
like this? Ah, that is such a good question. I
want to ask that randomly to everybody. Have you ever
attempted to make an android? It is a good test.
So I have tried to build a robot. I used
to volunteer at this big event Georgia Tech had where
(00:48):
I was a robotics event for high schoolers and I
tried to build a robot at that. It was successful,
but not very good. I will say that it was
slow and fell over a lot, but it worked. But
my little brother, who my little brother is somebody when
(01:08):
you ask him what he does. In the back of
your head, you're thinking, should I be concerned about this?
Because he used to work He worked on AI, but
he used to work for this very who I thought
was a very mysterious kind of Tony Stark esque command
where he would build robots for him and I would
observe and learn and hear about those stories. And to
this day I'm unclear, but he built like a robot
(01:32):
that could like dunk, not dunk, but he could play basketball.
That's the one I remember the most robot basketball. That
was amazing because I I definitely have never made a robot.
I've only used those connect things. I think what I'm
talking about where you canna build little machines, but it
doesn't really come to life, which is my fear. As
(01:55):
we know, I have a fear of things coming to
live in an objects coming to life. But today we're
talking about some amazing young women in Afghanistan. Actual robotics
team known as the Afgan Dreamers as they named themselves,
led by eighteen year old Samaya Pleruki, Semia Ferruki and
several other young women, were charged with developing a prototype
(02:16):
ventilator during the pandemic and through the use of spare
car parts, Ingenuity and Education then created a prototype that
they were able to present an exhibition in December where
many were present, including key ministers, policymakers, parliamentarians and Unit
supt Members. Right, and they were actually invited with five
other teams to come and show off their projects. So
(02:38):
it was a big deal and the all female Afghana
robotics team worked for over four months and developing a
ventilator partly based on an m I T design and
with a little assistance from experts and funding from the
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Farukei and her team finalized
the device that can run ten hours on battery power
and cause significantly less than your typical ventilator which is
(03:00):
twenty thousand dollars, So their product is lightweight and only
costs seven hundred dollars. It's a very big difference and
at once approved, will be distributed all of the country
and even maybe internationally. The team is made up of
girls between the ages of fourteen to eighteen from different
high schools in Herat. They came together every day after
school where they would meet up for an hour or
(03:21):
so to learn all about robotics and programming, and they're
the only all girls robotic team to design a low
cost fan the latter in Afghanistan. Fruki said, there are
a lot of people in our community and across Afghanistan
that think that only boys should be mechanics, but I
don't know why, because girls can be mechanics also. They
just need their society to believe in them and have
the support of their family and then they will prove it.
(03:42):
It was always a goal of mine to prove it,
and she shared dead and she did talk about her
passion for them and how she was influenced by supports
like her parents. She reminisced about watching her father fixing
and working on different vehicles at the repair shop he
owned in Harat and her home in western Afghanistan. She stated, quote,
his work is what got me interested in mechanics and engineering.
(04:04):
And through these experiences and helping and assisting her father,
she learned how things work in a very simple sense.
But I always wanted to learn more and have access
to more knowledge in this area. And she spoke about
her mother's ongoing encouragement and her continuing her education. Ferugie's
mother had had to leave school at an early age
due to the band on girls education by the Taliban.
(04:25):
She stated in regards to her mother, quote, I think
this is why she supports me as much as she does,
because she can see that I'm doing what she never
got to do. Now she tells me how much I
inspire her, and She's definitely been inspiring so many people.
But Ferouki's mentor, who helped sponsor the robotics team. Royal
Maboub stated, quote in the West, kids are having conversations
(04:45):
about how robotics are replacing people in the workforce. But
the problem is Afghanistan is so far behind, is behind
in the education system. What is the point in training
girls for jobs that barely exist for women now and
likely won't exist when they finished their studies. And I'm
talking about preparing these girls for real opportunities in their future.
And Maboo is no stranger to making history through technology.
(05:08):
She was named Time Magazines quote one hundred most influential
people in the world for her work with Digital Citizen
Founder d c F, which she founded to help girls
and women around the world access technology, including building Internet
classrooms in Afghanistan. Right, she's a big wig. So in
twenty thirteen she was given this title, and she has
(05:28):
been working really hard and actually has her own business
in Afghanistan and so has been a powerful influence for
the girls as well as Feruki. So it's phenomenal to
see and she actually goes on if you want to
find the article she has written in about how mentorship
has been a big part of that and how her
relationship with Feruki has developed and what it looks like
(05:51):
for them in Afghanistan and how they've influenced the women
and the young girls to take part and become interested
in the world of STEM. So definitely need to uh
lock her up because she may be one of the
other ones that we feature. But of course we had
to give a shout out today and Farukie was quoted
in her profile with you and women quote. I believe
that gender equality is a human right. Women are half
(06:13):
the population. They need to have the same right as men.
Steam and education is essential for economic growth and future jobs,
and women and girls should be involved at an early age.
Equality is important for everyone, regardless of gender. We can
all contribute to this cause by our actions towards of
women and girls in our own lives, including wives, daughters
and employees, make it a better place for them. I
(06:36):
love this. I love the examples of mentorship and women
supporting women and just young women getting out there and
say you know what, I want to prove it. I
wanna prove that women can do this. You can't, can't.
I love seeing that they are so ready. And of
course these ventilators were brought in during the time that
COVID has hit afghanistand so hard, and the fact that
(06:58):
they're very limited and getting supplies like ventilators, and that's
why they were charged in doing so, because of course
they not everyone can afford a twenty dollar ventilator in
their hospital, and we know how access is limited for
different parts of the world. Even in the US, we've
seen that as a problem, and so to find a
way to do something that could save so many lives
(07:21):
in an affordable manner is phenomenal. And that it's by
these young women even bigger of course, and the recognition
they're given and they've earned essentially, and how it is
pushing them to continue to do more and they continue
to serve their country and to continue to serve their people,
And it's uh wow, like I couldn't imagine, you know.
I asked the last time for our last women around
(07:44):
the world, what we thought we were going to be
doing at thirty two. No way what I thought, Yeah,
eighteen year old could definitely change the scope of the
world in medicine by creating a low cost ventilator like that.
That was not the scope of my ideas of what
I would do at eighteen mm hmm. It's astounding and
(08:04):
it's it speaks to what she said about how we
need to we need to show women that people in
our lives, of of all genders, that you can do
this and these are options for you, and make sure
that those options are available. Huh yes, like an under humor, Right,
I kind of want to go revisit my whole robots
(08:27):
and then you've got a challenge your hand. I think
so right at the end, as quarantine is slowly easy, slowly,
I know I'll build a robot. Please, listeners, if you
have any suggestions for women we should be covering on
this segment, send them to us our emails Stuff Needia,
mom Stuff at i art media dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or on
(08:49):
Instagram at Stuff I've Never Told You. Thanks as always
to our super producer Christina. Thank you Christina, and thanks
to you for listening Stuff I Never Told You. Protection
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio,
visit the Heart Radio ap Apple Podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. M
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. You're welcome to stuff.
I've never told your protection of I heart radio. All right,
any Yes, I have to ask you, have you ever
attempted to make an android or a robot or anything
(00:27):
like this? Ah, that is such a good question. I
want to ask that randomly to everybody. Have you ever
attempted to make an android? It is a good test.
So I have tried to build a robot. I used
to volunteer at this big event Georgia Tech had where
(00:48):
I was a robotics event for high schoolers and I
tried to build a robot at that. It was successful,
but not very good. I will say that it was
slow and fell over a lot, but it worked. But
my little brother, who my little brother is somebody when
(01:08):
you ask him what he does. In the back of
your head, you're thinking, should I be concerned about this?
Because he used to work He worked on AI, but
he used to work for this very who I thought
was a very mysterious kind of Tony Stark esque command
where he would build robots for him and I would
observe and learn and hear about those stories. And to
this day I'm unclear, but he built like a robot
(01:32):
that could like dunk, not dunk, but he could play basketball.
That's the one I remember the most robot basketball. That
was amazing because I I definitely have never made a robot.
I've only used those connect things. I think what I'm
talking about where you canna build little machines, but it
doesn't really come to life, which is my fear. As
(01:55):
we know, I have a fear of things coming to
live in an objects coming to life. But today we're
talking about some amazing young women in Afghanistan. Actual robotics
team known as the Afgan Dreamers as they named themselves,
led by eighteen year old Samaya Pleruki, Semia Ferruki and
several other young women, were charged with developing a prototype
(02:16):
ventilator during the pandemic and through the use of spare
car parts, Ingenuity and Education then created a prototype that
they were able to present an exhibition in December where
many were present, including key ministers, policymakers, parliamentarians and Unit
supt Members. Right, and they were actually invited with five
other teams to come and show off their projects. So
(02:38):
it was a big deal and the all female Afghana
robotics team worked for over four months and developing a
ventilator partly based on an m I T design and
with a little assistance from experts and funding from the
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Farukei and her team finalized
the device that can run ten hours on battery power
and cause significantly less than your typical ventilator which is
(03:00):
twenty thousand dollars, So their product is lightweight and only
costs seven hundred dollars. It's a very big difference and
at once approved, will be distributed all of the country
and even maybe internationally. The team is made up of
girls between the ages of fourteen to eighteen from different
high schools in Herat. They came together every day after
school where they would meet up for an hour or
(03:21):
so to learn all about robotics and programming, and they're
the only all girls robotic team to design a low
cost fan the latter in Afghanistan. Fruki said, there are
a lot of people in our community and across Afghanistan
that think that only boys should be mechanics, but I
don't know why, because girls can be mechanics also. They
just need their society to believe in them and have
the support of their family and then they will prove it.
(03:42):
It was always a goal of mine to prove it,
and she shared dead and she did talk about her
passion for them and how she was influenced by supports
like her parents. She reminisced about watching her father fixing
and working on different vehicles at the repair shop he
owned in Harat and her home in western Afghanistan. She stated, quote,
his work is what got me interested in mechanics and engineering.
(04:04):
And through these experiences and helping and assisting her father,
she learned how things work in a very simple sense.
But I always wanted to learn more and have access
to more knowledge in this area. And she spoke about
her mother's ongoing encouragement and her continuing her education. Ferugie's
mother had had to leave school at an early age
due to the band on girls education by the Taliban.
(04:25):
She stated in regards to her mother, quote, I think
this is why she supports me as much as she does,
because she can see that I'm doing what she never
got to do. Now she tells me how much I
inspire her, and She's definitely been inspiring so many people.
But Ferouki's mentor, who helped sponsor the robotics team. Royal
Maboub stated, quote in the West, kids are having conversations
(04:45):
about how robotics are replacing people in the workforce. But
the problem is Afghanistan is so far behind, is behind
in the education system. What is the point in training
girls for jobs that barely exist for women now and
likely won't exist when they finished their studies. And I'm
talking about preparing these girls for real opportunities in their future.
And Maboo is no stranger to making history through technology.
(05:08):
She was named Time Magazines quote one hundred most influential
people in the world for her work with Digital Citizen
Founder d c F, which she founded to help girls
and women around the world access technology, including building Internet
classrooms in Afghanistan. Right, she's a big wig. So in
twenty thirteen she was given this title, and she has
(05:28):
been working really hard and actually has her own business
in Afghanistan and so has been a powerful influence for
the girls as well as Feruki. So it's phenomenal to
see and she actually goes on if you want to
find the article she has written in about how mentorship
has been a big part of that and how her
relationship with Feruki has developed and what it looks like
(05:51):
for them in Afghanistan and how they've influenced the women
and the young girls to take part and become interested
in the world of STEM. So definitely need to uh
lock her up because she may be one of the
other ones that we feature. But of course we had
to give a shout out today and Farukie was quoted
in her profile with you and women quote. I believe
that gender equality is a human right. Women are half
(06:13):
the population. They need to have the same right as men.
Steam and education is essential for economic growth and future jobs,
and women and girls should be involved at an early age.
Equality is important for everyone, regardless of gender. We can
all contribute to this cause by our actions towards of
women and girls in our own lives, including wives, daughters
and employees, make it a better place for them. I
(06:36):
love this. I love the examples of mentorship and women
supporting women and just young women getting out there and
say you know what, I want to prove it. I
wanna prove that women can do this. You can't, can't.
I love seeing that they are so ready. And of
course these ventilators were brought in during the time that
COVID has hit afghanistand so hard, and the fact that
(06:58):
they're very limited and getting supplies like ventilators, and that's
why they were charged in doing so, because of course
they not everyone can afford a twenty dollar ventilator in
their hospital, and we know how access is limited for
different parts of the world. Even in the US, we've
seen that as a problem, and so to find a
way to do something that could save so many lives
(07:21):
in an affordable manner is phenomenal. And that it's by
these young women even bigger of course, and the recognition
they're given and they've earned essentially, and how it is
pushing them to continue to do more and they continue
to serve their country and to continue to serve their people,
And it's uh wow, like I couldn't imagine, you know.
I asked the last time for our last women around
(07:44):
the world, what we thought we were going to be
doing at thirty two. No way what I thought, Yeah,
eighteen year old could definitely change the scope of the
world in medicine by creating a low cost ventilator like that.
That was not the scope of my ideas of what
I would do at eighteen mm hmm. It's astounding and
(08:04):
it's it speaks to what she said about how we
need to we need to show women that people in
our lives, of of all genders, that you can do
this and these are options for you, and make sure
that those options are available. Huh yes, like an under humor, Right,
I kind of want to go revisit my whole robots
(08:27):
and then you've got a challenge your hand. I think
so right at the end, as quarantine is slowly easy, slowly,
I know I'll build a robot. Please, listeners, if you
have any suggestions for women we should be covering on
this segment, send them to us our emails Stuff Needia,
mom Stuff at i art media dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or on
(08:49):
Instagram at Stuff I've Never Told You. Thanks as always
to our super producer Christina. Thank you Christina, and thanks
to you for listening Stuff I Never Told You. Protection
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio,
visit the Heart Radio ap Apple Podcast, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. M
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