Arezoo Taef

      I was about 7 years old, when one day we received a call that we needed to go to Tehran as soon as possible because something terrible had happened to my grandmother. On our way to Tehran, which was about 20 minutes from our house in Karaj, my mother prayed and said “Ya Baha’u’ Abha”or “God please help her.” As we got closer we saw a heavy dark smoke coming out of my grandmother’s house. Paramedics and firemen covered my grandmother’s body that looked like some black burnt balloon. A couple of days after she was taken to the hospital she passed away. Later on we learned that my grandmother was another victim of the government just because she was a Bahai. Bahai faith is not considered to be an official religion in Iran; therefore Bahais do not receive any benefits, rights or protections. There is no freedom of speech for Bahais and we cannot practice our religion openly. As Bahais we are considered dirty, and treated like animals. Some very conservative Muslims had set my grandmother’s house on fire and locked her inside.
      It was becoming impossible for my father to work because he was Bahai. Also as a Bahai in Iran I would only have been allowed to receive a high school diploma. As a result, my parents decided that we had to leave Iran and The United Nation allowed us to come to United States of America to start a new life. As political refugees in the US, my sister, parents and I were very poor and without help. And yet I had the joy and promise of attending school. As a poor student who worked very hard in Boston’s inner city schools I had the opportunity to come to Hamilton College on a full scholarship, as a part of the "Posse Foundation" program.
      My past and difficult childhood, and being a woman of color, a Bahai coming from a struggling class, and a member of a poor immigrant family struggling to survive in a big US city, has helped me to become very interested in learning more about struggles and difficulties that families and especially women tolerate because of their class, race, gender, sexuality and culture. In college, as a Women’s Studies major, I have learned about law, public policy, educational policy, and social and cultural structures that affect the lives of vulnerable people, in the US and globally, often making it hard or even impossible for them to reach their fullest potential.
      Today I am a graduating college senior. In college I have learned to speak, think and write in ways that are critical, analytical and comprehensive. This has changed me for so much the better as a woman and as a member of US culture, as someone who cares and acts on the convictions. Through the knowledge I have gained as a student at Hamilton College, I have also been looking for ways to reach my goals and create positive changes in people’s lives. One of my goals in life is to be a part of the legal system and affect policy changes. I especially would like to work at the international level to help people to move out of poverty and hunger and provide education and opportunities for children so they can see a better future too. Working in law and public policy I will dedicate myself to doing this.

Photo Exhibit

A nationally touring exhibit of 50 framed, museum quality, color photographs coupled with narratives created by students who are welfare eligible, single parents changing their lives through the pathway of higher education.  The installation presents a unique view of poverty from insiders’ perspectives and reframes the cultural (de)valuations of poor single parents vis-à-vis family, work and higher education in the United States today. View the Gallery Guide.