Women boxers of Afghanistan
Kabul stadium boxing club
Afghan women boxers arrive for practice at the Kabul Stadium boxing club, March, 5, 2014.
The Afghanistan National Olympic Committee boxing club has fewer than a dozen women and little money for them.
Previously, nongovernmental organizations supported them. At that time there were 25 young women who received a salary the equivalent of $100 per month and transportation to and from the Kabul Stadium where they train.
Kabul stadium boxing club
Kabul stadium boxing club
Afghan female boxers exercise during a practice session at the Kabul Stadium boxing club, March, 5, 2014.
The women, who are 18 and older, don’t have much more than determination, and a trainer who runs them through their paces, watches as they spar, corrects their technique, tells them when to jab, how to protect themselves, when to power through with a left and then a right.
Kabul stadium boxing club
Kabul stadium boxing club
An Afghan female boxer, center, jumps rope during a practice session at the Kabul Stadium boxing club, March, 5, 2014.
The sportswomen share a camaraderie, laughing and teasing each other until the serious business of training begins.