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Last to Eat, Last to Learn
My Life in Afghanistan Fighting to Educate Women
Author: Pashtana Durrani, Tamara Bralo
Narrator: Lameece Issaq
Unabridged: 6 hr 12 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Published: 03/10/2026
Categories: Nonfiction, Political Science, World Politics, History, Women, Middle Eastern History, Travel, Middle East
Synopsis
"Pashtana's story highlights the resourcefulness and bravery of young women in Afghanistan. I hope readers will be inspired by her mission to give every girl the education she deserves and the opportunity to pursue her dreams." —Malala Yousafzai
In the spirit of Our House is On Fire by Greta Thunberg, the astonishing and deeply inspiring memoir from a young Afghani activist, Amnesty International Global Youth Ambassador, founder of the NGO LEARN, and women's education activist whose advocacy for the disappearing girls of rural Afghanistan has led to her being ruthlessly targeted by the Taliban.
A Ms. Magazine Pick for Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023
"Sparkles with humor and grit. A lovingly narrated, sharply nuanced memoir from a talented activist." —Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW
Inspired by generations of her family's unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan's girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, where girls are often married off before reaching their teenage years and prohibited from leaving their homes, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous.
Pashtana was raised in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan where her father, a tribal leader, founded a community school for girls within their home. Fueled by his insistence that despite being a girl, she mattered and deserved an education, Pashtana was sixteen when, against impossible odds, she was granted a path out of the refugee camp: admittance to a preparatory program at Oxford. Unthinkably and to her parents' horror, she chose a different path. She chose Afghanistan.
Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the hands of girls in remote areas of the country, training teachers in digital literacy. Her commitment to education has made her a target of the Taliban. Still, she continues to fight for women's education and autonomy in Afghanistan and beyond.
Courageous and inspiring, Last to Eat, Last to Learn is the story of how just one person can transform a family, a tribe, a country. It reminds us of the emancipatory power of learning and the transformational potential that lies within each of us.
"An inspiring portrait of a change-maker in action." —Publishers Weekly
In the spirit of Our House is On Fire by Greta Thunberg, the astonishing and deeply inspiring memoir from a young Afghani activist, Amnesty International Global Youth Ambassador, founder of the NGO LEARN, and women's education activist whose advocacy for the disappearing girls of rural Afghanistan has led to her being ruthlessly targeted by the Taliban.
A Ms. Magazine Pick for Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023
"Sparkles with humor and grit. A lovingly narrated, sharply nuanced memoir from a talented activist." —Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW
Inspired by generations of her family's unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan's girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, where girls are often married off before reaching their teenage years and prohibited from leaving their homes, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous.
Pashtana was raised in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan where her father, a tribal leader, founded a community school for girls within their home. Fueled by his insistence that despite being a girl, she mattered and deserved an education, Pashtana was sixteen when, against impossible odds, she was granted a path out of the refugee camp: admittance to a preparatory program at Oxford. Unthinkably and to her parents' horror, she chose a different path. She chose Afghanistan.
Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the hands of girls in remote areas of the country, training teachers in digital literacy. Her commitment to education has made her a target of the Taliban. Still, she continues to fight for women's education and autonomy in Afghanistan and beyond.
Courageous and inspiring, Last to Eat, Last to Learn is the story of how just one person can transform a family, a tribe, a country. It reminds us of the emancipatory power of learning and the transformational potential that lies within each of us.
"An inspiring portrait of a change-maker in action." —Publishers Weekly
