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Mahbube Ibrahimi (left) and Marissa Sustic (right).
blue News
Mahbube Ibrahimi fled Afghanistan with her family as a baby. Today, the 21-year-old lives in Switzerland and has founded "Wild Flower", an organization that provides clandestine education for women in Afghanistan. On International Women's Day, she tells blue News what drives her.
Even adversity does not stop wild flowers. They take root in the dry ground and make their way through the cracks in the hard concrete. "They represent the women of Afghanistan," says Mahbube Ibrahimi. "They grow even in difficult times and never give up."
Ibrahimi comes from Afghanistan herself. When she was still a baby, her parents fled to Iran, where she spent most of her childhood. Later, they continued their escape, stopping in Turkey and Greece. From there, Ibrahimi moved on to Paris alone and finally arrived in Switzerland in 2021. She is 17 at the time.
Around the same time, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Since then, women's rights have been severely restricted. Among other things, girls are only allowed to go to school up to seventh grade.
In high school, Ibrahimi looks for meaningful work. As she couldn't find a suitable option, she decided to become active herself at the age of 19 and founded "Wild Flower" in the fall of 2023. An organization that secretly teaches women in Afghanistan. "The thought that the girls there were not allowed to go to school because of their gender, while I was allowed to, was really hard for me to bear," says Ibrahimi.
The now 21-year-old is sitting at a table in a café in Zurich. Surrounded by plants and stickers with political messages. Sitting opposite her is Marissa Sustic. The 23-year-old joined "Wild Flower" shortly after it was founded. At first she taught herself, today she is a member of the board.
The organization now has around 250 schoolgirls aged between 14 and 34. Around 120 volunteers are involved as teachers, each for one to two hours a week.
Some of the women and girls who take part in the online lessons want to study abroad later on. "But we also have many who are simply interested in continuing their education," explains Sustic. "Many of them don't want to leave Afghanistan because they have children or parents there," she adds.
They do not advertise their online school. "Quite deliberately," says Sustic. "We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves out of protection for the women and girls." New participants find their way to them by word of mouth or through social media. But advertising would be superfluous anyway, as demand is high. So much so that there is now a waiting list that is getting longer every day. The organization is therefore urgently looking for more volunteer teachers.
Anyone who wants to take part in the lessons is first interviewed. "This allows us to see whether there is genuine interest," explains Ibrahimi. Sometimes it happens that some people only want to take part because of the free internet, she continues. The money donated to the organization is used to buy the women and girls data volume so that they can take part in the lessons. "But 95 percent of the women are sincere, they really want to learn and further their education."
«Some think the project is absolutely pointless and don't believe in change, others support it passionately»
Mahbube Ibrahimi
Founder of "Wild Flower"
Another admission criterion concerns age: women over 35 are no longer accepted onto the program. There are various reasons for this. "Many of them are less able to attend classes because they have children or have to take care of the household," says Ibrahimi.
"That's our most important criterion: they have to attend regularly. We have so many requests, so anyone who doesn't take part or doesn't do their homework has to make room for someone else," explains Sustic. What's more, many women over 35 can barely write. "The younger ones have the basics," says Ibrahimi.
English and German are the main languages taught. "That's the most useful for them later on," says Ibrahimi. However, subjects such as politics, computer science and history are also offered, each in the form of workshops. This is the name given to lessons taught by teachers who are only available for a limited period of time.
As the students have different levels of English, the workshops are only offered to women and girls in the higher levels. "To challenge them," explains Sustic. "And so that it's not just about language. That can get a bit boring over time," she continues.
Afghanistan has been one of the most important countries of origin for asylum seekers in Switzerland for several years. In 2024, a total of 8627 asylum applications were submitted by Afghans, including 1943 multiple applications and 349 reopenings of previous procedures.
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Otherwise, the lessons are adapted to the students' wishes. "Some students say their goal is to take the Cambridge certificate or the TOEFL test, for example," explains Ibrahimi. These are internationally recognized English exams.
"They are then assigned to teachers who are very strict and assign homework diligently," she continues. They write essays, focus on grammar and hold debates. "Things that we would have done in French lessons at secondary school, for example," says Sustic.
However, Ibrahimi and her organization are not met with approval everywhere. Opinions are divided in the Afghan community: "Some think the project is absolutely pointless and don't believe in change, while others support it passionately," says Ibrahimi.
Attention must also be paid to the safety of the women and girls. They deliberately do not refer to it as "teaching", but as "coaching". The latter is associated with less fear and seems more harmless. Each lesson is also strictly limited to four students and one teacher. "On the one hand for better quality, on the other hand it's a safety guarantee, because a small group counts as a private phone call," explains Ibrahimi.
Those who meet at least once a week build up a real relationship with the women and girls over time. "I've almost developed something like a friendship with them," says Sustic about her students. "We talked about a lot of personal things. The conversations came naturally. For example, I asked them: What are you doing tomorrow? Also to practise the future."
Sustic learns a lot about her students' everyday lives through these conversations. "For example, I found out that one of them, who often had problems with the internet, only has reception in the garden. That's why she couldn't take part in coaching during a storm," she explains. "It's not a lot of information, but it gives you an impression of their lives."
One story in particular has stayed with Sustic. One of her students had been training Uechi-Ryū, a traditional karate style from Okinawa, Japan, since she was a child. But since the Taliban came to power, she is no longer allowed to practise the sport. "Her dream was taken away from her," says Sustic. "There are many stories like that."
Ibrahimi tells the story of a 21-year-old woman who learned English through "Wild Flower". "Her husband supported her so much," she says. "Now she teaches herself secretly in her living room, three hours a day," says Ibrahimi.
«There is hope that things will get better at some point. But at the same time, the women in Afghanistan have to live in this reality and accept it to a certain extent in order to survive»
Marissa Sustic
Board member "Wild Flower"
The two take out their cell phones and scroll through pictures of the girls and women they have sent them. One shows a small child in traditional martial arts clothing - the one Sustic just mentioned. Ibrahimi shows another photo: a living room filled with Afghan women who are being taught in secret.
The stories that Ibrahimi and Sustic tell get under your skin and make it impressively clear what fates lie behind them. "You know, these are women with a bachelor's degree," says Sustic. "One of my students had studied psychology, wanted to do a Master's degree, but then couldn't do it. Her dream job remained out of reach. That's heartbreaking. She was torn out of her life and is now just waiting."
Many women and girls are waiting for the situation in Afghanistan to improve. They don't have much else to do. "They have hope, but not too much. Too much hope would only end in disappointment," says Sustic. When the Taliban switched off the internet in September 2025, it caused great fear among the schoolgirls. Classes were canceled for the first time.
"I think there is hope that things will get better at some point. But at the same time, they have to live with this reality and accept it up to a certain point in order to survive," Sustic continues.
The meaningful "Wild Flower" project does not go unrecognized. They have now won several awards. "We hoped that our work would be seen and supported," says Ibrahimi. "For me, it's like: oh my God, society is supporting this. If it weren't for that, then the motivation would certainly be a little lower." Sustic adds: "It's just recognition. We don't get paid for our work."
Ibrahimi also has big goals alongside his voluntary work at "Wild Flower": "I'm just finishing high school and I'm in numerus clausus preparation. I want to become a doctor," she says. Her family now also lives in Switzerland. Sustic wants to finish her psychology degree and go traveling.
In future, "Wild Flower" wants to focus more on recruiting new teachers. "We also want to further develop the quality of our coaching and examine what opportunities we can open up for our students. For example, by placing them with other clubs where they can complete additional training," explains Ibrahimi.
As long as women and girls in Afghanistan have to live under these circumstances, quitting is out of the question for both of them. "I believe we will celebrate the day when we no longer have to maintain the program. That would be the greatest salvation for us. But until then, we're here," says Sustic in conclusion.
"Wild Flower" is currently urgently looking for volunteer teachers and donations. You can find all the information here.
