It has been over 40 days since Mahsa Amini has died and nothing has slowed down. 

In Iranian culture, the 40 days after someone dies is very important. Friends and family come together to mourn and celebrate the life that was lost. 

For Mahsa Amini, people drove from all over the country to go to Amini’s hometown. When the police started blocking the highways and streets leading into the town, people got out of their cars and started walking to her grave. This one act symbolizes the beauty of the movement. 

No matter what the government tries to do, the people fight back because where there is a will, there is a way. Everyday the movement grows stronger and bigger. What started as protests, is now a revolution. There is no going back for these women. They have tasted freedom. They have felt their hair blowing through the wind. There is nothing sweeter than being yourself.

Since the last article I wrote, people all over Iran have grown more and more courageous. It is very typical in Iranian universities for women and men to eat separately; there are typically two separate dining rooms. Recently, students from Tehran University, one of the top universities in Iran broke that rule and have been eating lunch and dinner together. Although this may sound typical for us, these university students are risking their education and lives by doing this. 

On the other hand, the government has become more and more violent towards their students. The government raided Tehran University; they shot, tased and beat students, simply because they were a part of the protests.

Every day I wake up wondering what kind of news I am going to get. Every day the list of people who become unintentional martyrs grows longer and longer. According to PBS.org, by Oct. 15, there were over 233 deaths and more than 40 of these people were under the age of 18. I see images and videos of victims’ families; they’re crying and mourning. I think to myself that these families look like mine. 

The government tries to paint lies by saying that the people who have been killed were terrorists or evil. How do they justify the death of innocent children? How many more kids must die before there is no one left? 

There are few things that give me hope. One of them is the power of the Iranian diaspora: the millions of Iranian people who live outside the country, including myself. We are putting in the work and time to get our message across the world. 

On Oct. 22, over 100,000 people marched in Berlin, Germany. There is power in numbers; many people think that since we live outside of the U.S., we cannot do anything about the situation, but they are wrong. Ever since 100,000 people protested in Germany, the German government stood up against the Iranian government. Germany along with other EU countries like France have been pushing for EU sanctions over the Iranian government. The German government would not have started pushing for sanctions if people did not push them to. 

The international community owes it to the innocent Iranian women and children to help out. Iranians outside of the country will keep pushing our officials more and more to make sure we get freedom. 

Many people do not understand the pain and sorrow Iranian people outside of the country feel. No matter what, every day myself and many others wake up expecting the worst of the worst. We think it can’t get any worse, but the government never fails to shock and sadden us. I hope to one day wake up with texts and videos of freedom singing through the country. I hope to one day go back and see young women living for themselves and no one else.