Frozan Marofi

Frozan Marofi was born in 1974 in Kabul City, Afghanistan; her father worked for the government of Afghanistan. After graduation, Frozan worked for the Ministry of Education, developing and implementing teacher training, particularly for women. This work was interrupted during the 3-year civil war, when the family fled to Pakistan. Later, from 2012, she worked for Women for Women International (WWI), developing educational modules to empower Afghani women in needy communities. Working with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCDO), this was extended to include men also. It led to establishment of 19 Protection Groups in local communities, each consisting of 10 elders. Frozan was Social Empowerment Manager in WWI for 10 years, and further developed and implemented modules such as ‘Soft Skills’ with colleagues in the UK, US and Germany.

Frozan recounts the struggle she and her family had to escape from Afghanistan in 2021-2022 when the Taliban took over. Initial attempts to leave failed, and she worked from home, secretly, for a year under Taliban rule. But her strong international contacts led, in August 2022, to the WWI offering funds for her and her family to escape to the UK via Pakistan. This was successful; after a short stay in Pakistan, they were flown to Coventry and transferred to Newport Pagnell. The team who looked after them, and the local people, were very friendly, but there were a few difficulties with the UK systems and local services; the food provided was sweeter and fattier than in Afghanistan: she gained weight! Frozan says that her children have been brought up with firm rules about behaviour and they are well organised now in the UK, thinking about education and careers. She says ‘The UK is the country that rescued me, saved my life’. She has worked for 18 months as a volunteer, saying: ‘the government can give me enough money to survive, so I pay it back with … a smile… with my volunteer work’. Frozan tries to support Afghani women in the UK, particularly with their English. In her opinion, the many talents of Afghani people brought to the UK should not be wasted: ‘they will be very good citizens of the UK’.