Twice a refugee from Afghanistan, Nasrin Husseini is now on BBC list of 100 influential women

Nasrin Husseini spent her childhood in Iran, a refugee from the Taliban-held Afghanistan that prevented her from seeking an education in her home country. 

She became determined not only to go to school — but to help other refugees. 

Now, a refugee advocate and researcher at the University of Guelph, Husseini is among an annual list of 100 exceptional women published by the BBC.

Though Husseini and her family spent much of her childhood in Iran, they returned to Afghanistan in 2004 after the fall of the Taliban. They arrived to find a changed country. 

"Afghanistan, was a male dominated country in those years after the Taliban," she told CBC Radio in a 2017 interview. "It was sort of stressful to go out to streets, to walk alone."

She credits her father with helping her and her sisters navigate those years, and for supporting her choice to pursue an education. She was among the second class of women to graduate from Kabul University's veterinary medicine program — and finished at the top of her class.

She enrolled at the University of Guelph soon after arriving in Toronto around 2010, this time as a refugee to Canada. Husseini earned a masters of science in immunology and now works as a veterinary researcher for the university. 

As a volunteer, she works with the organization Canadian Hazara Humanitarian Services, a Brampton-based non-profit, which assists members of Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic group in settling in Canada, as well as with the Bookies Youth Program, which promotes literacy and storytelling for Afghan children. 

The BBC says the 2021 list highlights the bravery and achievements of Afghan women following the resurgence of the Taliban, who retook control of the country in August. 

Many appear on the list under pseudonyms, without photographs, or accompanied by drawings depicting them covering their faces with their hands, something Husseini says was especially resonant to her as a fellow nominee. 

"Those women who are working from inside of Afghanistan, they are the real heroes," she says. "That their photos are not there says a lot about the situation in Afghanistan right now ... it's absolutely an honour for me to be among those women."

Women from Afghanistan made up half of those recognized by the broadcaster this year. 

Husseini says she hopes to continue supporting women in Afghanistan and Afghan refugees living in countries like Pakistan, Iran and Indonesia. She hopes her inclusion on the list will help her to raise money for the charities she works with in Canada as well. 

Soon, she says, she'd like write a book about her life, in the hope that other young girls may follow her lead.