Sousan Rahimi's life got put on hold in 1996. That was when the Taliban took control of her native land of Afghanistan, and for the next five years she rarely left her family's apartment in Kabul. When she did go out — usually accompanied by her father or brother — she was carefully shrouded under a burqa and reluctant to show her eyes or hands. One never knew when the Department for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice was watching.

Under the Taliban, which enforced a harsh interpretation of Islamic religious law, women and girls were banned from schools and the workplace. Rahimi couldn't continue her 11th-grade education, so she read books at home and studied languages with the help of her mother, an English teacher. The family considered leaving the country, but her father had a good job as an English translator for the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Rahimi's Anne-Frank-like existence came to an end in 2001 when U.S. troops helped overthrow the Taliban. Suddenly she found herself a freshman attending Kabul University. Then her life took another fateful twist: She was recommended to the U.S. embassy for a unique program in which American colleges offer free educations to Afghan women. After an initial interview process, Rahimi was one of the first five selected for the program. She soon found herself on a plane bound for Montana.

The Initiative to Educate Afghan Women offers higher education to those who had been isolated and degraded under the Taliban. UM was one of several U.S. universities that volunteered to participate, and now has two women in the program. After the students graduate, they will return to help rebuild their homeland.

Rahimi says her culture shock was pretty intense at first. During her first day at UM in September 2002, she faced a news conference with curious Missoula media. Then she was living in a UM residence hall and tackling American classes.

"It was hard for me the first semester," she says. "I really missed home, my parents, family and country. In my country, girls are really dependent on their families."

Sustained by e-mail and infrequent phone calls to her family, Rahimi gradually settled into her new life. She says her fellow students and Missoula residents are friendly, and her professors have been supportive. She also says UM's strong international student program has been a tremendous aid.

"I think I brought so many different perspectives with myself here," she says. "When I got here nobody would believe I was from Afghanistan. I think I've helped correct some really wrong perspectives about the people of Afghanistan. I can show we have really educated people ... it's just that our country is destroyed, and we don't have opportunity."

Initially an English literature major, she has since switched to political science. She also got a job working at The Bookstore at UM. Her grades have been good, and she recently started taking French, another language to add to her English and native Farsi. She also has traveled a bit, including a spring break trip to California with her Montana roommates.

As part of the Afghan education program, the 24-year-old Rahimi returned home last summer and worked for the International Medical Corps. She was shocked by the changes in her native land.

"Women are driving now!" she says. "We have three women in our government now. My parents say it's been good for the average people. People are getting an education and better government. We'll see."

Jess Roskelley | Teresa Branch | Mehrdad Kia | Sousan Rahimi | Jerry Lamb