(RNN) - The FIRST Global Team Afghanistan, an all-girls robotics team, had to overcome a number of obstacles to work on a robotics competition. But one roadblock prevented them from competing in person in the U.S. - visa approvals.
The U.S. government denied the six girls the one-week visas they needed to travel to the U.S. for a global robotics competition.
However, the robot they designed will be welcomed to the country, competing against the robots of 163 other countries at the FIRST Global Challenge starting July 16 in Washington, DC.
To attempt to get their visas, the girls traveled twice to Kabul, the site of frequent terror attacks and a 500-mile trek from the girls' home in Herat, for two rounds of interviews, all to no avail, Forbes said.
"No one is more saddened than me," said First Global President Joe Sestak.
The girls will be able to watch the competition remotely via Skype while a group of young Afghan girls already in the U.S. pilots the robot, he said.
Roya Mahboob, who founded Citadel Software Company, the Digital Citizen Fund and is the first female CEO in Afghanistan, got the girls together for the competition.
They were devastated not to get to go to the U.S. - "they were crying all the day,” she told Mashable.
Sestak said of the countries competing, 156 have received their visas and teams from six nations have visa interviews yet to be done.
One other team, Team Gambia, was also denied visas for the competition, Sestak said. However, Iran, Sudan and Team Hope - a team composed of Syrian refugees - have received visas despite being among the countries listed on the Trump travel ban.
He said there was no "prejudice or politics" involved in the decision to deny the girls' visas.
"While not privy to the exact reasons undergirding the decision, I know first-hand that the war environment is both turbulent and dynamic in Afghanistan," Sestak said.
This girls robotics team from Afghanistan was denied visas for a U.S. competition https://t.co/HVPDUxFgm6 via @mashable
— Roya Mahboob (@RoyaMahboob) July 1, 2017
The girls experienced difficulties just getting the robotics gear to compete. It was held up in customs all spring and was only cleared three weeks ago out of security concerns.
Other teams have been working with their materials since the beginning of March, Mashable said.
"We want to develop and explore our minds and creativity and maybe unveil the genius inside of each one of us," the girls said on their team page. "We want to make a difference and most breakthroughs in science, technology, and other industries normally start with the dream of a child to do something great. We want to be that child and pursue our dreams to make a difference in people’s lives."
This year's robotics challenge: providing clean water: "Pollutants in the water will need to be separated, and clean water will need to be brought to each team’s reservoir within the allotted time."
Copyright 2017 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
