From Afghanistan to Rabun Gap
Shaiq Walizada '19 shared his story with the Rabun Gap community.
Imagine living more than 10,000 miles away from home and having no contact with family for almost a decade. Your journey has taken you from an orphanage to the basement of a school in Afghanistan to an American boarding school. Consider what it’s like to live most of your childhood with a leg injury, undergoing many surgeries and eventually having it amputated as a teenager.
This is the reality of Shaiq Walizada, a Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School rising senior who has defied adversity to realize new opportunity in America. Shaiq told his story to the Rabun Gap Board of Trustees on Monday, May 2 and Upper School students and faculty in the chapel on Wednesday, May 2. Pictures of his Afghan homeland rotated through a slideshow in the background, images of lush vegetation and beautiful vistas often not portrayed in American media.
Shaiq’s story begins with a debilitating injury. As a toddler, Shaiq suffered a major injury to his leg after falling one to two meters off a lofted bed in his home in the Parwan province of Afghanistan.
“My sister put me on top of the bed while she was cleaning the house. I was two years old,” he explained. “I was rolling around and fell off the bed, and I hurt my knee. It was bent where I could not straighten it until I had surgery.”
Soon after, Shaiq’s mother died after a battle with many health issues. Shaiq then went to live with his grandparents.
“When I was around 7 years old, my grandmother told my uncle to take me to an orphanage. For about a week or two, my uncle would take me on a bicycle like an hour or two to the orphanage from my house,” Shaiq said. “I was in the orphanage for about a year or two. I started school all over again, from first to third grade.
One day, Shaiq’s principal asked him to get a passport. The young student was shocked.
“There were two guys that I did not know. They came from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. They came to pick me up,” Shaiq said. “My parents did not know — even I did not know what was happening. They took me to an organization called Solace. Solace is for children who have medical issues, and they bring them to America for medical treatment.”
Shaiq made his first trip to the United States in 2008. He stayed for a few months and had some procedures done on his leg. But there were no positive results.
After returning to Afghanistan, he was taken in by the country’s first all-girls boarding school. Shaiq described how education for girls is not a priority in Afghanistan. Though he was the only boy at the school, Shaiq said it taught him how to respect women and eventually inspired him to advocate for his own sisters’ rights to an education.
Shaiq eventually met another boy that had arrived at the all-girls school and who had lost his leg in a bombing at age 7. Today, Shaiq and his friend spend lots of time together on holidays and school breaks, as both have been taken in by a family in North Carolina while they live in the United States.
Meanwhile, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School formed a connection with the founder and president of the all-girls school. She came to campus, and Rabun Gap offered a scholarship to send one student to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School. That scholarship student is Shaiq.
When Shaiq arrived on Rabun Gap’s campus in 2014, he still struggled with walking and elected to have another surgery.
“At that time, I wasn’t sure if I was going to have an amputation surgery . It took me a couple of months to figure out myself and to talk with my parents. Finally I made the decision myself to have my leg amputated,” he said.
Shaiq was fitted with a prosthetic leg and it took many months for him to recover. He returned to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School to finish his education. Today, Shaiq is an outstanding member of the Rabun Gap student body. He’s a member of the Eagles wrestling squad and helped the team return to the NCISAA 3A State Meet last winter. Next academic year, he will serve as a prefect.
“My leg has been a blessing to me even though I’ve been through a lot,” Shaiq told his peers on May 2. “I am thankful for who I am.”
Head of School Dr. Anthony Sgro calls Shaiq an inspiration.
“We’re so honored to have Shaiq as a part of our student body,” said Dr.Sgro. “His story is a daily inspiration for our community and represents Rabun Gap’s core mission to provide the opportunity for an education to all students, regardless of their background. Our generous supporters help create amazing opportunities for students like Shaiq.”
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School
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Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a private, coeducational day and boarding school for grades Pre-K through 12. Centrally located between Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC, we prepare young people for college, career, and a lifetime of leadership and service.
