At 18 years old, Sadaf Baradar has mastered two languages, English and Persian, and is well on her way to mastering a third in Spanish. And she’s not stopping there.
Next in line are Arabic and French.
Baradar, a G.W. Graham secondary school graduate, intends to learn as many languages as she can so she can help educate as many females in developing countries as she can.
Baradar wants to work for United Nations and one day run her own organization that will educate and better the lives for young girls and women in developing countries.
The dream started young.
Baradar spent the first 13 years of her life in Iran, and while she was fortunate to attend a bilingual school, she knew other girls in neighbouring countries, like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Africa, weren’t so lucky.
“In these countries, girls don’t have as much opportunity to go to school as the boys do,” said Baradar. “The girls are supposed to stay at home and become mothers, and take care of their children and husband. They don’t get an education.”
Baradar believes the poverty cycle in those countries will forever continue without change.
“Literacy rates are directly related to pregnancy rates,” said Baradar. “The more educated the girls become, the less children they will have, which will help their families be not as poor as other overly populated families. It’s a cycle that goes on and on,” she said.
“I don’t know if I can be the only one doing something about, but I would like to start a movement.”
Baradar will be attending the University of British Columbia in the fall, and while she hasn’t yet nailed down a major, she’s looking into global development and child psychology.
